We'll Burn Together
by LipstickOnMyLollipop
Summary: When a tragic accident causes Jade to lose her father and stepmom, she's sent to live with her aunt in Los Angeles and attend Hollywood Arts. Her plan was to brush people off and just make it through her last three years of high school without turning any heads, but that's hard to do when there's a certain brunette who never takes no for an answer.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue.**

* * *

When Jade left out of the house that day, she didn't think it would be the last time that she would see her father and stepmother. In fact, when she left out, it was to go get them their anniversary present. That day was in a week and that entire month for her was spent planning the biggest celebration they could imagine.

Jade's step mom, Maya, was one of the most important in people in Jade's life. When Jade was born, her birth mother died promptly after. Maya came into Jade's life when the sixteen year old was three and Jade had worshipped her ever since.

Maya taught Jade how to play guitar, piano, and drums in five years. The rest of Jade's life leading up to that day was spent perfecting her skills with her stepmother and her father couldn't have been more grateful for their connection. He knew about his new wife's inability to have children and the fact that she had her dreams come true with Jade was overwhelmingly heartwarming to him. Back to the present, Jade had been stressed with all of the planning and the expectations she had placed on her own shoulders to make next Friday the highlight of her parents' year. To relieve some of that stress, she smoked a cigarette in her bedroom before she left out and when she was done, she quickly put it out against her window sill and threw it haphazardly into the ash tray.

She was rushing out of the house by then, so the fact that it was still burning and she had only flicked the embers around didn't occur to her until she returned home with the news that the house had burned down. According to the police it had caught on the drapes in her room and spread quickly through the entire house. Including the bedroom across the hall from hers where her parents were sound asleep at the time. The officer was trying to avoid saying it directly, but Jade's confused blue eyes were wracking him with pity.

"Your parent's are dead." He stated somberly and Jade took several terrified steps back before she turned on her heel and took off down the street.

She didn't know where she was going and she knew that aside from her parents there wasn't anyone else she could turn to that could help her. She kept her feet pounding against the cement as the wind blew her tears off of her face. Her chest heaved and maybe a mile and several dry sobs later, she stumbled to a stop in a local park and fell against one of the poles that held up the swing set. She pulled her knees to her chest and bit into the sleeve of her leather jacket to stifle the sobs that were wracking her entire body. Trembling fingers shoved into her pocket and pulled out the matching necklace set that she was supposed to give them in a week. Now she would never get the chance to and it was her fault. She gripped the two gold necklaces in her trembling fist and cried harder.

Two hours later, the police found her in the same position, but asleep when they carried her into the back of the police car and took her back home. When she woke up, she was met with the blue eyes that had always hated her. Her birthmother's sister, Jane.

Jade was out of it for the most part, yet the snippets that she did pick up were that she'd be living with Jane, her husband, and their daughter now since they were the next of kin. Jade, as devastated as she was, had little energy to protest and try to tell the police that the woman hated her for 'killing her sister'. The policeman she was crying to only shook his head pityingly and went with the rest of his team to go take care of the paperwork.

The funeral came and went in a teary, blurry haze, where at least a hundred people were gathered around the graveyard as her parents were lowered into the ground. Jade was a crying mess the entire time and as people filed out individually and in groups afterward, Jade had stayed, sitting between the two tombstones and fervently apologizing to the two bodies buried below her until her grandmother had wrapped her in frail arms and taken her back to the hotel where she and her aunt were staying.

* * *

A week later, Jade was moved from her home in San Francisco to live in Los Angeles with her aunt and her family. It was fairly large house with two floors and four bedrooms, each with a bathroom. When she entered the house with her aunt Jane, a blond man with brown eyes stood beside a girl Jade's age with dyed red hair and tanned skin. The girl was at least half a foot shorter than Jade and was dressed from the neck down in pastel colors.

Jade hated her already. Jane's grip on the teens shoulder was tight and the raven haired girl yanked out of her grip and stalked up the stairs without a word to anyone. She didn't want to be with a family of people where her aunt had no doubt talked shit about her since she was born. She just wanted her parents back and she wanted to turn back the time to when she was first offered a cigarette and turn it down. The guilt was crushing her and the snide remarks her aunt made in the car on the drive to Los Angeles wasn't helping anyone.

The day was Sunday and Jane was demanding that she attend school the next day with no exceptions, never mind the fact that her parents just died in a fire. Jade couldn't help but wonder that if she hadn't killed them, would her aunt be this cruel. As she pondered her self-imposed question, a gentle knock on the door caught her attention.

"Go away." She growled in the door's general direction as she lay sideways across her bed, her feet facing the door.

"Jade?" A soft, high pitched voice floated over to her as the door opened just slightly.

"I'm really sorry about your parents… If you ever need to talk, I'm here for y-"

The redhead was cut off abruptly by Jade getting to her feet and slamming the door in her face with a noise that shook the walls. Her pale fingers flicked the lock in place on the door and pulled out her guitar from the pile of suitcases filled with her belongings. When the gentle knocking began once more, Jade quickly tuned her guitar and started playing to drown out the noise. Peace be damned, she hated this house.

Monday morning, Jade was being shaken awake at six on the dot by an overly peppy redheaded girl. With a groan, she turned on her stomach and buried her face in her pillow while halfheartedly waving off the smaller girl. When she continued to be pestered, Jade groaned and yelled, "Get the fuck out!" with as much venom as she could muster this early in the morning. With a startled squeak, the redhead hightailed it out of the pale girl's bedroom. Jade woke up on her own thirty minuets later and took her time getting ready for school.

When she walked out of the front door, her cousin having left already, she thought that her aunt had actually done something nice for her and brought her car down to LA. She was reminded however, that her aunt wasn't ever that nice to her when her uncle walked out. His blond hair gleamed in the sunlight and his straight white teeth made Jade's stomach hurt. He was far too much of a prep for her and looked like he should be on the cover of a Ralph Lauren ad wearing a polo shirt and playing rugby.

"I was told that your grandmother had one of your fathers friends drive this down for you." The man tossed the car keys toward Jade and she caught them with reflex only. Maybe her uncle wasn't an asshole like her aunt. It wasn't like she could have heard considering that Jane had barred her from her family's life completely. That almost made her feel bad for snapping at his redheaded daughter that morning, but she wasn't quite there yet.

"Um…thanks." Jade muttered before shouldering her bag and hopping into the front seat of her black Mustang. She was sure that Jane had mentioned her husband and her daughter's names on the way to LA, but she couldn't remember for the life of her…mainly because she didn't particularly care enough to find out.

Her radio was blasting as she pulled into the parking lot of her new school, Hollywood Arts. Apparently Jane had been able to pull some strings and get her in without an audition. That may or may not have to do with the fact that Jane mentioned that her stepmother was a music prodigy and had obviously passed down the talent.

Of course Jane did this only to save time from going through the registry process. She in no way was doing Jade any favors. Jade had arrived two hours into the school day and she only had twenty minuets before lunch started according to her schedule. Hence the reason why she stayed in her car until the students poured out into the Asphalt Café. When she spotted a flash of red hair, she tried to hurry and turn the opposite direction as not to be seen, but it was too late.

"Jade! Jade! Come sit with us!" She heard that high voice yell at her from across the distance and she ignored it and sat at a vacant table by herself as she put in her ear buds and blocked every one else out.

Cat let out a deflated breath and turned to look at her group of friends. Beck looked at Cat with a knowing smile.

"Hey, kid, she'll come around eventually. You said she just lost her parents right?" He asked gently. Cat nodded eventually.

"Right, so give her some time. She looks like she just wants to be alone." The olive skinned boy finished and ruffled Cat's hair gently.

Tori, a tall half-Latina with pretty cheek bones, nodded in agreement. "Totally. I can't even imagine how I would be feeling if I lost both of my parents." She shook her head to clear away the thought and her best friend spoke up.

"I'd do her." Maya said bluntly, which caused Tori to smack the back of her head automatically.

"What? I would. Do you_ see _her? She's gorgeous!"

"Maya, shut up." Tori laughed at her friend's antics. Maya Marshall was definitely the more sexually active of the group.

"_Anyway_, Red, just cut her some slack. I'm sure she'll warm up to you real quick, just like everyone else." Andre chuckled and his dreads swung forward when he reached over the table to ruffle Cat's hair just as Beck had moments ago.

"Okay. Thanks guys." She smiled and looked over at Robbie's usual spot. He was nowhere to be found, but he didn't come to lunch a lot recently so she stayed silent about her pondering as to where he started disappearing to.

Maya's hazel eyes were trained on Jade across the Asphalt Café and she watched the girl pick at her salad and absently bob her head to the music. Tori followed her friend's gaze and soon was caught off guard by the obvious beauty in the raven haired girl.

Maybe she could get Jade to come and hang out with her and her friends, after all, she was Tori Vega. Tori was a people magnet, so how hard could it be?

After school, instead of going home like most of the students, she stayed in the band room by herself and tuned the acoustic guitar that was on the stand. After a moment, she began to play and sing a song she had written only two months ago.

Jade strummed out the open chords with her guitar pick she pulled from her pocket.

"_She'll lie and steal and cheat… and beg you from her knees. Make you think she means it this time. She'll tear a hole in you… the one you can't repair. But I still love her I don't really care."_

As she kept playing the gentle, calming song, Andre and Beck had paused by the door to the band room once they realized exactly who it was that was playing so well. The song that the pale girl was playing was much more intricate than most people could play and their interest was peaked as they observed through the glass window of the door.

"_It's better to feel the pain… than nothing at all. The opposite of love's indifference. So pay attention now. I'm standing on your porch screaming out, and I won't leave until you come down stairs." _Jade's voice was raw and new, something that Andre and Beck knew was difficult to find in this school even with all of the talented voices around them.

The emotions that the song brought to Jade made the lyrics sound that much better because as Beck and Andre listened, they could feel the song as she did.

"_So keep your head up, keep your love…keep your head up, my love. Keep your head up, my love. Keep your head up, keep your love. And I don't blame you, dear. For running like you did all these years. I would do the same, you best believe. And the highway signs say we're close, but I don't read those things anymore, I never trusted my own eyes." _

In the break between that verse and the next one, Jade heard movement outside and her eyes snapped open to find the faces of Andre and Beck watching her through the window.

With a harsh glare, she set the guitar back on its stand and stalked over to the door, wrenching it open with more force than necessary.

"What the fuck do you want?" She sneered at them, the last thing she needed was people watching her while she bared her feelings in the comfort of an empty room.

Beck stepped inside, around Jade and leaned against the wall. After a while Jade moved back and allowed Andre, who was too nice to push through a woman as Beck did, inside of the band room. She pushed the door shut and turned on them with an expectant look on her face.

"Who were you singing about?" Beck asked bluntly with his arms crossed. He had an older sister that acted just like Jade, cold and closed off. She was in college now, but his ways of getting her to talk weren't that rusty. The trick was not to being nice, but to talking to them like they did to you until they stood down.

"Why were you watching me?" Jade snapped right back.

"I can only imagine whoever you wrote it for is disappointed, hell I can play better than that." Beck continued fishing for her to respond the way that he wanted her to and when she did, he grinned.

"She would have loved it, you fucker!" Jade's rage had bubbled enough that she didn't even realize that she'd slipped until it was too late.

"I'm sure she would." Beck reassured her, making it clear that he only said that to rile her up.

"Now, I'll ask again. Who'd you write that for?" the taller boy asked with a gentle voice and a lopsided grin.

"My girlfriend… ex girlfriend." Jade murmured and turned her back on them to walk back over to the guitar.

"Why ex?" Andre asked from beside Beck.

With a deep inhale and exhale, Jade picked the guitar back up and sat back down.

"We broke up… and then she ran away."

Beck quickly backtracked from the conversation and walked over to the pale girl.

"Oh…well actually we came in here because we wanted to know if you'd join our band? It's me, Andre, Devin, Derek, and Lucas. We're a pretty big deal here."

Jade considered the offer for a moment before she thought of her stepmother, who would have loved nothing more than to see Jade following her steps and joining a band.

The pale girl nodded and looked up at them.

"Yeah, okay. I'll join."

* * *

**A/N: **Hey, hi. New story from me, mainly because this was helping me out of my writers block for TCTLDY... I have some pretty cool plans for this story though so hopefully I'll be able to keep up with both of them. Any mistakes or reality errors are mine, considering I'm not sure what the protocol is for someone who indirectly sets their house on fire as well as how the whole 'next of kin' thing goes...

As always, review if you'd like me to continue! The more reviews the better because then I update faster :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter One.**

* * *

That following day, Hollywood Arts was having a meltdown. It all started at the rumor that Tori Vega had a crush on the 'troubled new girl' and the news that XXX, the heartthrob all male rock band, had a new and female member…who happened to be the 'troubled new girl'. When Tori walked into the school that day, she was followed by only a few of her usual entourage. Maya, Kara, and Samara all followed her inside as she went to her first period Screen Writing class.

All of the heads in the class aside from one turned expectantly to look at Tori with grins and smirks on each face. The half-Latina wondered why until she caught sight of the new girl, Jade, sitting with one ear bud in her ear and feverishly writing in a thick notebook. With an optimistic smile, the tan girl slid into the desk beside Jade's with a charming look in her eyes. Well, it would have been charming had the girl actually looked up from what she was writing to pay attention to her. Tori reached over and tapped Jade on the shoulder with her grin in place.

Baby blue eyes flicked from the paper to the very pretty girl in front of her then back to the paper again. Jade seemed to debate how much she would regret talking to the brunette for a moment before she gently closed the notebook and turned in her seat to face Tori. Everyone else in the room was watching them and it wasn't nearly as conspicuous as it would have been in most other schools, considering that most of them were actors.

Several people had made bets on whether or not Tori could get Jade to even talk to her and the people betting against them were already sure that they'd lost. The rest of the class was interested to see the new girl interact. Word of course had traveled fast of what happened to her parents, from then on it was just a race to see who could get the pale girl to talk to anyone outside of XXX. Tori bit her lip as she watched Jade observe her in silence. After a moment, Tori smiled in pleasant surprise when she noticed the teal colored nautical star tattoo on the inside of Jade's wrist. Tori stuck out her leg and pulled the leg of her skinny jeans up just enough to show her own pink one off.

"Hey, we have the same tattoo!" Tori grinned in excitement and the amount of pure happiness radiating off of the half-Latina would have been too much were it not for the fact that this wasn't false happiness in order to get her to feel better about the recent tragedy, but this girl was just a truly bubbly person. Maybe it also helped that Tori was nothing short of gorgeous. Jade's lips twitched with the barest hints of a smile and Tori kept going, determined now.

"We can be matching tattoo buddies! You can be the silent one that's all broody and mean and I'll be your opposite. Cute, right?" Tori smiled as she locked eyes with Jade.

"I don't know about silent." Jade finally smirked and turned her arm so that she could get a better look at her own tattoo.

"How about I'll be the badass and you're my wimpy sidekick?" The pale girl continued and Tori countered with a faux pout.

"Why do I have to be the wimpy one?" The half-Latina whined with the most exaggerated puppy dog eyes Jade had ever seen.

"Because only wimps pout like that, take it or leave it." Jade continued to hold her signature smirk until Tori finally nodded in agreement.

"But I'm the cute one." Tori muttered just loud enough for Jade to hear as she stuck her nose up.

"What gave you that idea?" Jade deadpanned and almost smiled when Tori gasped in shock.

"Wow, you _are_ mean. I'm Tori." The tan girl introduced herself and Jade took the proffered hand and squeezed the hell out of it.

"Jade."

Tori squeaked and yanked her hand back in order to cradle it to her chest.

"Mean and strong… I'll remember that next time."

Just then their teacher entered the room and began the class without introducing Jade, for that, she was grateful. The last thing she needed was for every teacher asking her to tell the class about herself when in reality it was none of their business. Jade was a private person and didn't do well in situations where she had little control.

That day, after school, she stayed once more. This time though, it was to practice with the band that she was now a part of. They practiced in the second band room which had windows all down one wall that showed a great view of the soccer field behind the school. She was the first one there and afterward three guys all walked in together. She had assumed that they were Devin and Derek, the brothers of the group, and Lucas. Jade walked over to them and briefly introduced herself, she wasn't one for being flashy.

Derek engulfed her in a bear hug and Jade tensed in his arms, never having been a fan of personal contact. He let go a moment later and Jade watched him warily.

"I'm sorry! I've just been telling the guys we need a girl in the group since freshman year." He replied in a heavy Australian accent. His brother rolled his eyes and shoved his shoulder. "You're such a pussy, dude." He smirked, yet had an American accent. Jade watched them as her confusion grew by the second. Ryan saw this and put his hand on her shoulder, facing the brothers just like she was. He pointed at Derek and nodded, "This one lived in grand ol' kangaroo land for a few years with his mom when he was younger."

Ryan then pointed to Devin and continued, "And this one stayed in the land of free, home of the cheese fries." Ryan had a very Indie type of style about him that made Jade think that he might end up being her favorite.

"I only assumed they were brothers because of their names, but you and Derek look more similar." Jade commented with the raise of her eyebrow.

"It's definitely because we're Juniors. Juniors all look the same because we're so old and wise, right?" Derek responded with a grin and a high five at Ryan who left him hanging.

Jade smirked at their antics and nodded at Beck and Andre who walked in immediately after.

Beck was extremely impressed that he only had to play the song twice for Jade to be able to pick up on the chords and play it back to him perfectly.

"Who taught you how to play?" Devin asked curiously, his brown eyes sparking in awe.

"My step mom." Jade replied as she played a familiar tune from her head on the electric guitar.

"Who is-was she?" Derek asked, quickly catching himself and rewording his question. Jade felt a pang in her chest at the reminder, but she answered anyway. They were a team now.

"Maya Culver… also known as Jett Johansson." Jade replied, waiting for the shocked faces and unmanly shrieks. They did not disappoint her.

"_The_ Jett Johansson? Like the music prodigy, rock legend? She was your _step mom_? She dropped off the map a long time ago but everyone still rocked out to her music!" Beck's eyes were wide as they all stared at Jade in shock, then it dawned on them at the same time that she was gone.

"Oh man… Jade we're so sorry. All of us, I'm sure she meant a lot to you." Ryan spoke up somberly while the rest of the guys nodded in agreement.

"She still does. She's the reason I joined. She would be so excited about this." Jade said with the faintest of smiles tugging at her lips.

"Let's do this then! Our next concert is gonna be amazing and we're gonna do it for Jett Johansson!" Beck yelled and held his guitar up in the air like a sword thrust upward in victory.

Jade nearly had tears in her eyes at the support from these five guys that she had only just met yesterday, yet she believed them when they said they were going to be the best and they would do it all for her step mother.

Maya Culver.

The guys and Jade were halfway into a song when they each caught the eye of five girls staring at them through the windows. The music slowed to an ungraceful halt and they all burst out laughing, all except Jade. She was too taken off guard by the sight of Tori Vega in her soccer practice uniform which consisted of spandex shorts, knee high socks, cleats, and a form fitting bright blue tank top. Said girl held up a finger as they then rushed around to the entrance of the school to come into the band room with Jade and the guys.

"Hey guys! New song?" Tori asked as she walked in followed by four other girls, one of which was Cat.

"Somethin' like that." Andre grinned and nudged his female best friend.

"How's soccer practice going ami-girls?" The darker boy asked with his signature, bright grin in place. Samara ran her hair through her sweaty blonde hair and shrugged. "Being scared to get a little dirty is for pussies." She smirked and was met with a high-five from Devin.

"That's my girl." He chuckled and placed a sloppy kiss on her cheek. Samara giggled and shrugged him off. "Okay, okay. I meant actual dirt, you piglet." She replied as she used the back of her hand to wipe his saliva off of her face.

As they had this interaction, Tori had led Jade further away from the group to talk to her.

"You joined XXX? I guess you think you're the real deal or something." Tori teased with her megawatt smile in place. Jade just shrugged and nodded, "_Well_, I am amazing. Take notes, Vega. You'll learn soon enough." Jade teased right back with the smirk on her lips nearly growing to a smile.

"I'm pretty sure I've learned something…that you're all talk, West." Tori matched Jade's smirk and crossed her arms in what looked like a challenge.

Jade had waited for someone to match her in banter for quite some time and Tori Vega seemed to be the perfect choice.

* * *

Two practices later, after the rest of the guys had called it a day and headed home, Jade lingered in the band room. Tori was waiting on her sister Trina to get out of her dance rehearsal across the school, so she went in the band room to bother Jade.

The pale girl was strumming a beautiful, intricate melody with an acoustic guitar and Tori silently slid onto the piano bench and began playing with her. Jade looked up in surprise, but kept playing. She smiled when she realized who had joined her and they harmonized in the song that apparently Tori knew as well. Jade couldn't help but be impressed, considering it was an underground band that had made it. When the song came to a close, Tori turned toward Jade and patted the spot beside her on the piano bench. With a roll of her eyes, Jade walked over and sat beside Tori, instantly regretting the decision when long arms snaked around her own and the half-Latina curled into her side.

Jade's entire body tensed, but it didn't last as long as it did with other people and eventually she relaxed. Of course, she shouldn't have been surprised that the brunette was very touchy-feely. After a few moments though, Jade quickly made an excuse to remove herself from the embrace and stood to walk over to her book bag. She bent down and pulled her song book from the floor in order to slide it into her bag.

"You've been really hurting Cat's feelings, you know." Tori finally spoke up as she closed the cover of the piano and rested her elbows atop of it. Jade had finally learned their group's names after nearly a week being there.

"So?" Jade asked evenly without even turning her head in Tori's direction. The half-Latina released a puff of air and turned sideways so that she was straddling the piano bench to watch Jade.

"So…you haven't given her a chance." The brown eyed girl continued with a determined light in her eyes.

Jade's fingers pulled at the ties on her bag and yanked it shut more harshly than usual. Cat's complaints and need to be adored by every one wasn't Jade's problem, if anything, it was Jane's fault for babying the girl well into her teenage years.

"I'm not interested with dealing with a two year old in a sixteen year old's body. No thanks." The pale girl grunted as she stood from her spot on the floor and walked back over to the guitar.

"Even Maya's scared to walk up to y-" Tori was cut off by Jade's intense gaze. Eventually she shook it off and resumed softly strumming the guitar.

"Sorry, it'll take a while to get used to that being her name." The azure eyed girl muttered with her eyes still cast downward at her guitar.

"Wait, why?" Tori inquired in confusion, her arms crossed each other as she leaned forward on the bench and supported herself with her hands.

"Stepmom. Name's Maya." Jade stated as bluntly as she could manage, her gaze still never meeting Tori's wondering ones.

"Oh, we can call her something else?"

"Vega, I'm not gonna make the girl change her name for my benefit. Leave it alone." Jade muttered the last part and put down the guitar before shouldering her book bag in one fluid motion.

Before Tori could even ask where she was going, Jade had stalked out of the room and the door closed with a finalized click after she was gone.

* * *

When Jade pulled into the driveway and made it into her new home, her plan was to go straight upstairs to her room and lock herself in there for the rest of the night. Unfortunately for her, she was halted as soon as she entered the living room.

"Jade!" Her aunt called sharply from the kitchen, and with an aggravated groan, she followed the voice. When she entered, the island counter was covered in chopped vegetables fancy looking spices and oils. If the smell was any indication, there was chicken baking in the oven. Jane was standing with her arms braced on the edge of the island table and a pissed off look on her face. Her lips were pursed and Jade briefly entertained herself with the mental image of smoke blowing from the wealthy woman's ears.

"My daughter came home, in tears, because _you_ and your new hoodlum friends made her feel like she didn't belong." The woman growled with a glare aimed directly at Jade, who in fact, wasn't at all intimidated. Hell, when you lose everything that you cared most about, everything else seems very trivial.

"I'm positive she didn't belong, considering it was our band rehearsal and she should have been outside with the rest of her team." Jade snapped back immediately, not allowing the woman a second to even think that she had anything on her.

Earlier that afternoon, as they were practicing, Cat was the only one to stop by their rehearsal when the soccer team had taken their break. The little redhead was far too innocent to get the jokes and the inside jokes were damn near impossible to understand. She had stood off to the side as Jade and the guys interacted and eventually she had slipped away without anyone noticing. When their rehearsal was over, the only other person from the team that Jade saw was Tori. At that moment it clicked why Tori had said what she did about Cat.

"Do _not_ turn this around on her! I took you into _my_ house and I expect you to treat it and this family with respect, do you understand me?" Jane ranted, her pale face turning red by the time she was finished.

"_Respect_? In case you forgot, you hate me! You only took me in because nobody else was qualified to do it and you couldn't even _respect_ my feelings enough to cut me some slack after my parents passed!" Jade was yelling by then, and Jane's husband, Leon, was making his way toward the noise from his spot on the patio outside.

"Your feelings are irrelevant when you're the one who killed them! You killed your real mother, your stepmother, _and _your father! You should be lucky I'm even housing a murderer!"

"_Fuck you!_"

Leon ran back into the kitchen with wide eyes, having heard everything that his wife said.

"_Jane! _A word. _Please_." He hissed, grabbing her arm. The fuming woman threw down the wooden spoon she had in her hand from stirring whatever was in the pot on the oven before following him outside. Jade didn't wait a single second to run up the stairs and slam her bedroom door with enough force that the family pictures in the hall rattled and several fell.

Without even thinking about it, her fingers fumbled for her pear phone in her back pocket. It was instinct to call her stepmother's close friend, Holly. The woman had two daughters of her own, though Jade knew nothing about them.

Holly answered on the second ring with a frantic, "What's wrong, honey?"

"I can't- I can't do this. Can I stay with you for a while?" Jade asked shakily, she was already throwing clothes and other necessities into a duffel bag.

"Of course, I'll go set up the guest room." Holly replied immediately and ended the call with, "Everything will be fine, I'll take care of you."

* * *

**A/N: **First off, thank you to those who reviewed. You guys are the reason this update came so quickly. Also, the end of this got pretty intense actually lol. Any mistakes are mine, considering I'm too tired to effectively proof read this, so just point them out if you found any.

Review for quick updates, yeah?


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Two.**

* * *

Jade sat in her car outside of the house that she had only been to a handful of times in her entire life. When she was about five, she remembered asking Maya why she never had anyone to play with while she was there, and the woman answered that Holly's daughters were typically with their father at a different house.

Now that Jade was older, she realized that having someone being around her twenty four seven wasn't exactly her ideal lifestyle, considering that she was an only child. However, this was substantially better than staying at the hellhole Jane calls a home.

Pale fingers hesitated on the handle of the car door for several seconds as she took a deep breath. Meeting new people was a very unfortunate pet peeve of hers. Her combat boots were silent as they trekked across the lawn leading up to the front door. Jade's duffel bag was large enough to be considered a wheel-less suitcase, but she had no problem lugging it up the two steps and to the door.

Before her hand could even twitch to ring the doorbell, the mahogany door flew open and the next thing Jade knew, she was being engulfed in a bone crushing hug by Holly Vega.

The last names and the fact that Holly had two daughters didn't click until blue eyes met chocolate brown ones that belonged to none other than Tori Vega. The brunette sat up straight from her seat on the couch as she adjusted the glasses on her face, convinced that her mind was playing tricks on her.

"Jade?" The tan girl asked in utter surprise as she stood up and rushed to the door. The first thing she noticed aside from the fact that her mother obviously was well known by the intimidating pale girl, was the duffel bag by their feet.

Her mind jumped into overdrive at the thought that the girl she had been obsessing over since Monday was going to be staying at her house, and for quite some time if the size of the bag was any indication. When Jade pulled away from the embrace, she observed Tori with a calm face that said girl was struggling to obtain.

"Nice glasses, Vega." Jade smirked and pulled her bag further into the house by hooking her foot through the handles and kicking it inside. With a blush quickly climbing the brunette's neck to her face, she briefly touched her glasses before following Jade inside.

The pale girl plopped down onto the couch and looked up at Holly, who watched them both with an odd expression.

"I'm pretty sure you two never met…" The older woman trailed off, looking thoroughly confused.

"Jade- Jade goes to Hollywood Arts. We have four classes together." Tori replied without ever taking her eyes off of the smirking girl relaxing on her couch.

"Wait, but how do you two know each other?" Tori asked in genuine confusion as she tore her gaze away from Jade to look at her mother.

"Maya…that's Jade's mother." Holly said gently, still not knowing how sensitive Jade was to the mentioning of her late mom.

"No offence, but I thought you said she couldn't have kids?" Tori asked, attempting to keep her voice down so that only her mother heard her, but Jade heard anyway.

"She was my step mom, don't worry, I'm not gonna combust if you talk about her." Jade muttered as she flipped through several channels to keep herself occupied. Tori cleared her throat in embarrassment before delicately placing herself on the arm rest beside Jade.

"You girls hungry? We actually have ingredients in the fridge to make dinner since Trina isn't here to use them as facial masks." Holly chuckled as the girls nodded and she walked into the kitchen.

"If you don't mind me asking, why exactly are you staying at my house?" Tori asked, turning to look at Jade through her prescription glasses, reserved for home use only.

"Last time _I_ checked, this is Holly's house." Jade responded without missing a beat as she continued to channel surf for a show that would actually hold her interest. Tori watched her out of the corner of her eye and couldn't help the pounding of her heart against her chest.

"And last time _I_ checked, _you're_ a guest. I'm pretty sure I have the right to know what you're doing here." The brown eyed girl stated, watching Jade intently. Jade's eyes wandered over to meet Tori's and she was struck once again by how pretty the brunette was. Maybe it was the glasses, which were extremely endearing.

Or maybe it was the fact that she got to see Tori without the perfection that she wore at school like a badge. She was seeing the half-Latina with her hair pulled into a messy bun and wearing a shirt that hung off one shoulder with sweatpants. She was seeing the real Tori.

"My aunt, Cat's mom, was being a legitimate bitch and I couldn't stay there for another second." Jade admitted, her cerulean blue eyes locked with warm brown ones.

"She was making me feel like shit about my parents, and blaming me for their death…so I left. Even though it _was _my fault." The blue eyed girl continued, this time not meaning to add that part. That wasn't what she _did. _She didn't open up to pretty brown eyed girls with perfect teeth and messy hair.

Something about Tori Vega was comforting though, something that made Jade trust her, and that made Tori Vega an unknown factor that she wasn't ready to deal with. That made Tori Vega a threat. Jade's lips pursed as she realized that she had revealed too much about herself and turned her body away from Tori, planning to shut her out like she was supposed to.

"Jade, whatever happened to make it your fault, I'm sure it was an accident." A long, tan arm wrapped itself around Jade's shoulders and when the other one joined it, Tori was hugging the raven haired girl.

Jade's body locked up for a few moments before she stood abruptly and shot a panicked gaze at Tori for literally a second before she speed walked to the kitchen, a few feet over. As she walked further in, she saw Holly Vega chopping up some boiled eggs to go into the salad she was preparing. Jade could smell steak in the oven and she pushed herself up to sit on the counter beside the focused woman.

"How's the bonding going?" Holly asked offhandedly as the majority of her attention was focused on not chopping off her fingers.

"It's going. Hey, thanks for letting me crash here. I'll be out of your way tomorrow." Jade said quietly as she looked down at her hands in her lap.

"Oh, it's nothing! You can stay here as long as you need. I'm going to head over there to talk to Jane, you know your mother told me about her specific…dislike of you a while back." Holly shook her head in distaste.

"She's been a grade A pain in my ass every time I've seen her. Her daughter, Cat, is sweet as can be but she has to get it from her father because her mother…" Holly trailed off. Jade chuckled with a smirk and thanked the woman before retiring up to the guestroom with her duffel bag.

When Jade walked through the living room, Tori wasn't there anymore. Jade's steps up the stairs were far from quiet, courtesy of her combat boots and the extra weight from her bag. As she pushed through the door, she froze all movements to see Tori sitting on her bed with a you-hurt-my-feelings-but-I'm-hiding-it expression on her face.

Jade sighed and dropped her bag on the carpeted floor while crossing the room to sit on the edge of the bed, a safe distance away from Tori.

"It's kinda weird that you got lost, since you live here." Jade joked with her signature smirk in place. Tori looked over at her with a worn expression and pulled at her own fingers nervously.

"Why do you hate me?" Tori asked out of nowhere, shocking Jade to the point where it took her a moment to respond.

"You seriously think I hate you?" Jade asked with her eyebrows raised, mentally going over every time that she'd interacted with the half-Latina and not once finding anything that would have suggested such a thing.

"I mean, yeah. It feels like it." Tori admitted, taking her lower lip between her teeth. Jade ran her hand through her hair in frustration. She felt like she couldn't do anything right, she couldn't even properly convey her emotions to a girl she liked without making her think she was hated.

"Look, I really like you Jade… and I think it's only fair that I tell you this since you'll be staying here for a while." Jade's eyes narrowed in disbelief and then suddenly it hit her why the brunette had been so touchy-feely with her the past week. She placed her forehead in her hand and sighed at how dense she had been. Of course, Tori had taken the gesture as a sign of rejection.

"You know what…never mind I'm just gonna go back t-" The half-Latina quickly backtracked and moved to stand up, but stopped when she felt Jade's hand on her thigh. Brown eyes looked up to catch blue ones and Jade's expression was pleading her not to walk out.

"I definitely don't hate you, Vega. I actually like you, more than I want to, but I'm not exactly good with relationships. My last one was my only one and it ended with my girlfriend running away from home." Jade revealed and avoided Tori's gaze by the end of her sentence.

"I'm not going anywhere Jade. I can see that you're this amazing person waiting for someone to pull them out of their shell… your aunt and those other people at school, they haven't given you a chance to show how great I know you are." Tori said with her megawatt smile and her hand on top of Jade's.

"You watch too many movies, Vega." Jade murmured as she considered the brunette's words.

"Now get out of my room, I'm going to sleep, tell Holly I'll take dinner to lunch tomorrow. It's past your bed time, anyway." Jade ended with a teasing smirk to show Tori that she was joking and half an hour later, after Jade stripped down to her bra and underwear.

She was still tossing and turning, Tori's mini speech engrained in her memory. Maybe Tori wasn't the threat, but her past was. Her past wasn't allowing her to go after Tori the way that she wanted to, it was holding her back and one thing that Jade hated particularly was being restrained.

* * *

That Saturday, Beck and the rest of the guys threw a party on the pier. Apparently it was an annual event because literally seventy five percent of the school was in attendance. The pier was split between the Spring Carnival and XXX's party.

Both of them pretty much meshed together though so it was always a huge turnout. Everyone with an ounce of sense hid their alcohol in their respective water bottles as they danced and ran around the pier as well as the beach. Jade had arrived before Tori in order to help the guys set up.

Over just the span of one week, they had all taken Jade in like a sister and she felt like she trusted them more than anyone. They were the five big brothers she never asked for but secretly needed. Jade was standing by the cotton candy machine, simply people watching.

She could definitely party with the best of them, but in new surroundings she liked to observe the people around her and then adapt to the atmosphere. That method always made her party experience much more enjoyable. Tori walked up beside her with her hair pulled in a high ponytail, the loose strands falling around her face.

Her legs, seemingly going on forever, were only barely covered by very short denim shorts. Her striped red and white t-shirt seemingly glowed in the carnival lights while white pumps made her an inch taller than Jade. Blue eyes shifted toward the movement on her right and her eyes took in Tori's appearance from the feet up. When their eyes met, Jade smirked and turned her body to face the half-Latina.

"Oh, found you." Jade confirmed and then nodded once at the bemused brunette.  
"I'm actually pretty sure that _I_ found _you_." Tori laughed softly at Jade's antics.

"Well I'm the oldest." Jade shot right back.

"How would you know?' Tori asked, raising a perfectly shaped eyebrow at the pale girl in front of her.

"When's your birthday?" Jade asked without missing a beat.

"February 19th."

"Fuck." Jade muttered, more to herself than anything else. Tori broke out in a grin that looked liked it hurt her cheeks.

"Ha. I win." The tan girl shook her hips a little in a mini victory dance. Beck walked up to them both and swung his arms around each of their shoulders. Jade cut a sideways look at him for interrupting and he winked at her playfully.

"When's the wedding?" The olive skinned boy asked as if the question was perfectly normal. Tori blushed and bit the inside of her cheek while Jade's eyebrows shot up.

"Excuse me?" The raven haired girl asked, not in offence, but in surprise.

"I'm expecting little nieces and nephews, yeah?" Beck continued to tease them as he pulled them closer together using the embrace he already had them in. His plaid, flannel shirt brushed against their necks at the force he was using to push them together.

"_Okay_, Beckett. You can go now." Jade huffed as she shoved him off of her and Tori playfully.

"Aw, don't be mad, Jay! I'll be an awesome uncle, promise!" The boy laughed as he jogged backward and eventually turned to run off with some of his friends.

"He's such a dick." Jade chuckled and moved her gaze to the half-Latina's. Tori was smiling, almost shyly, at her. Before Jade could ask her why she was nervous, a six foot tall guy came stalking over to them both with a very pissed off look in his dark brown eyes.

"Oh, so you can talk to her but you can't call me back? You can do your little shit updates on The Slap but you can't _text_ me?" The guy was dressed in a leather jacket, dark baggy jeans and probably a handful of gel in his black hair. He had stepped between Jade and Tori, staring getting entirely in the half-Latina's personal space. Jade grabbed him by his leather clad arm and yanked him away from her with a strength that surprised even him.

"You're looking a little too close there." Jade said with a hard look in her bright blue eyes.

"Ryder, we can't keep doing this-" Tori began but was cut off when said boy stepped forward again, ignoring the harsh glare that Jade was sending his way.

"Doing what? You ignoring me? Everyone thinks you're so fuckin' _nice_, Tori. You know that? But the _truth_, is that you're a bitch. Just like every other _bitch_ at Hollywood Arts." Ryder was fuming by that point, but he didn't look nearly as pissed as Jade was.

The pale girl spun the guy around by the back of his jacket and slammed her fist into his face in one fluid movement. He fell over and landed with a thud on the wooden boardwalk, unconscious with blood beginning to leak from his lip and out of his mouth.

By the look of it, she was pretty sure she had knocked a tooth loose.

The instant silence around her was nearly deafening and when Jade looked up, everyone was staring at her with mixtures of awe and horror on their faces. The blue eyed girl took one glance at Tori's shocked face and her heart slammed in her chest at the thought that maybe she had ruined what the half-Latina thought of her.

If that was the case, she didn't want to stick around and find out, so she took a few steps back then turned to run toward the exit that would take her to the beach's parking lot. She heard several people call after her and the commotion that began in her wake was all just one loud buzz in her ears.

Her combat boots slammed against the asphalt as she reached her car and the wind blew her hair around her paler than usual face. Her throbbing hand pulled the car door open after she unlocked it with her other, and she sat in the driver's seat for a few moments to compose herself.

The urge to punch something in her frustration at herself was strong, yet that was what had gotten her there in the first place so she let out an aggravated yell before starting the car. What if Tori didn't want her to punch her boyfriend, ex boyfriend, whomever he may be, in the face? Jade expected the worst and her anxiety only built higher on the drive back to the Vega house.

This was exactly why she wasn't supposed to develop feelings for anyone here. She would only fuck it up in the end.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks once again for the reviews! Keep them coming, yeah? Any mistakes you see are mine, since I have a habit of writing these at 3AM when I'm too tired to read over them. So what'd you guys think?


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Three.**

* * *

Jade used her spare key as she trudged up to the mahogany front door. The sky was overcast and the temperature had dropped now that it was later on in the night. After wiggling the key several times in both locks on the door, she pushed it open with a clenched jaw and locked up behind herself. Burgundy combat boots clomped up the stairs as she began pulling off her jacket on the way to her new room. She threw her jacket on the bed and stripped down to her underwear before crossing the hall to the bathroom.

Her fingers flicked the shower on with ease and she locked the door behind her even though the house was empty. She unhooked her bra and dropped her underwear as she stepped into the steaming hot shower. Jade allowed the frustration and anger from the night to be washed off of her as she cleaned her tense body. When she stepped out, wrapped her towel around herself, picked up her clothes and went back to her room, she could hear faint talking downstairs.

The pale girl closed her bedroom door behind her and changed into an oversized T-shirt as well as some shorts to sleep in. Under the covers, as soon as her eyes shut, she was fast asleep and relaxed for the first time all day. A couple hours into the morning, Tori pushed the door open gently and peered inside of the dark room. She could faintly see Jade's outline on the bed and walked over to the edge of it. She had gone to sleep earlier, having come in right after Jade got out of the shower, and she'd had a nightmare.

Half-sleep and not thinking of the consequences, just the fact that Jade made her feel safe, she slid into the bed beside the raven haired girl and lay her head on the taller girl's shoulder. Jade mumbled something unintelligible and wrapped her arms around the brunette, pulling her closer. Tori smiled and curled into Jade's embrace and closed her eyes in an attempt to sleep, yet just Jade's proximity made it difficult to shut her mind up long enough to do so.

As she thought on it, Jade punching Ryder in her honor or whatever you want to call it was the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for her. Not exactly in the sense that watching a guy get a tooth knocked out was sweet, but it was the principal of the thing. It meant that Jade cared enough about her to put herself in a dangerous situation without second thought. Just that alone made the butterflies, or maybe humming birds, in Tori's stomach erupt with joy.

For some reason, in the span of one week, Tori had grown to adore the intimidating blue eyed girl to the point where she considered the concept of loving her. Maybe she was falling in love with that confident, sexy smirk of hers. Maybe she was falling in love with her devil-may-care attitude or her alluring blue eyes. Maybe she was even falling in love with the fact that she had been through so much in such a short time and still was one of the strongest people she had met.

Tori did know one thing, and it was that she had never felt anything that strong for anyone in her entire sixteen years of life. The idea that she was just being dramatic with her feelings for Jade had crossed her mind for only a mere second before she realized that emotions like the ones she was feeling were way too real to just be some little crush. Her only worry however, was that once Jade was given exposure with her spot on XXX, everyone else would be privy to all the things that Tori adored about Jade and she wouldn't be the only one pining for the guitar player's affections anymore.

She could already see it, the entire school at Jade's feet just as they were for the other five members of the band. It may be even greater for Jade just because she's a girl, and the only one that they had ever even considered letting in the band. With that thought, Tori finally drifted off in Jade's arms and fell into a dreamless sleep.

Tori was awoken by the sunlight now streaming into the bedroom through the window directly across from the bed. Her eyes cracked open slowly when she realized the embrace that held her throughout the night was gone. The half-Latina slowly sat up and took in her surroundings, only barely remembering coming into Jade's room in the middle of the night after a bad dream. Thin, tan arms reached out to feel the now cool space where Jade once was.

The night before came flooding back as she remembered Jade standing up for her as well as her own late night thoughts on her feelings toward the raven haired girl. A smile tugged at her lips as she remembered their playful banter last night and a feeling in her gut said that Jade was still close by. Her bare feet swung over the edge of the bed as she rushed down the stairs. As she padded into the kitchen, she could hear a faint sound of music coming from the basement. Her fingers pulled against the door leading down the stairs and as she followed the calm melody, her eyes fell upon Jade, who was strumming on her guitar and stopping every few moments to scribble something down in her notebook.

There was a chill in the basement that had been there since before they had moved in. Tori's toes curled against the hardwood and she wrapped her arms around herself for warmth. After watching Jade completely at ease for a moment, Tori made herself known.

"Good morning." The brunette greeted softly, her voice still thick with sleep. Jade's blue eyes darted in her direction with an undecipherable look in them. That only lasted for a second before the pale girl was glaring at her.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Vega can you leave me to myself for five minuets? You've literally been on my ass since I got here! That little stunt you pulled last night, sneaking into my bed? What the fuck, Tori? Give me my space!" Jade snapped, halfway through her rant, she had stood up and slowly stalked toward the tan girl. Her actions were showing the opposite of what she was saying however, because as soon as she saw the hurt in Tori's eyes, she took a step even closer, gaze softening. The pale girl was so confused.

She wanted, no she _needed_ Tori to stop trying to get close to her. She needed the half-Latina to look at her as if she were just anyone else instead of as if she were some rare jewel to be coveted. Yet even after she had made that clear to herself, one look into those coffee colored eyes, and Jade was unsure of her actions all over again. Tori could be the nicest person in the world, but when it came down to it, Jade was positive that she would fuck something up irreparably were they to get into a serious relationship. That was exactly what made her indecisive. Blue eyes watched as Tori drew her lip in between her white teeth and sniffed quietly.

"Sorry." The half-Latina muttered with a blush staining her cheeks from embarrassment and a bruised ego.

She turned around and dragged her feet back up the stairs as Jade watched on with an odd expression on her pale face. She couldn't make the words unstick from her throat, the words that would tell Tori to come back and that would apologize to the brunette. But Jade was at a loss for any type of sound to leave her lips until the door closed behind the tan girl. Jade turned and almost mechanically placed her guitar back into it's case. Her fingers brushed over the cover of her notebook before she tucked it under her arm to take with her. She was already running late.

Jade met up with the guys at Jet Brew for a sort of 'bonding excursion'. They figured the best way to get along as a band and to build a tight knit relationship was to spend a lot of time together in relaxed environments. Jet Brew's café played calm, underground indie music. The playlist was built and added on to by the customers themselves who submitted their favorites online or through their phones. The door chimed quietly when Jade entered and before going to sit with the guys, she walked up to the counter. The line had dissipated right before her arrival. A blonde with green eyes and a petite body looked up at her customer with a relaxed smile.

"Hi, how may I help you?" She asked politely as she placed her hands on the counter, watching Jade with interest as the girl rattled off her order. Medium coffee, black, with two sugars. The girl repeated the order toward the back where the rest of the staff handled concocting the beverages and then turned her cool gaze back on Jade as she handed over the money. The pale girl looked right back at her, taking in her beauty and vise versa. When Jade was handed her cup after the blonde marked what was in it on the side, she also noticed a phone number written freshly with the black marker.

Her blue eyes looked up with an intrigued arch of her eyebrow and the blonde winked at her before moving on the next customer that came in behind her. With a chuckle, the raven haired girl walked over to the large table that the guys were sharing, pulled up a chair, and sat down.

"Look who finally made it." Ryan smirked down at her as he took in her anxious expression.

"Why so glum? You have a phone number on your cup from that hot cashier. You should be ecstatic." Ryan continued playfully, trying to get Jade to smile. He succeeded because the raven haired girl chuckled at his words.

"No…I pretty much snapped at Tori this morning and I pretty much realized late that she wasn't pissed at me already from last night." Jade sighed heavily, taking a deep gulp of her coffee right after. Before the guys could speak on their confusion, she was continuing.

"Last night, she slept in the same bed as me. I literally woke up and there she was, laying in my arms. Which _then_ means, that I fucking cuddled her in my sleep. It's humiliating and frustrating." Jade ranted, just for the sake of getting it off of her chest. Andre was the first to break the thoughtful silence.

"But she told you she likes you, right? She told me, that she told you, that she likes you. This all sounds pretty fourth-grade right now, but let's think about it. You punched _Ryder Daniels_ in the face to defend her. You two have been on this completely different level than the rest of us with your interaction with each other. This is only after you've been here for a week? What's the problem, Jade? She's practically yours already. All you have to do is say the word." The dark skinned boy explained logically.

In theory, he was absolutely right. It would be so easy for her to just say yes and she would have Tori all to herself. Yet, the fact was that Jade wasn't emotionally ready for commitment to what she knew would have to be a long term relationship. Hell, her last one ended in nothing but intense fights and her significant other eventually leaving in the middle of the night without even leaving a note. Jade drew her lip between her teeth and absently chewed on it in thought.

Beck, sitting quietly beside her, slung his muscular arm around her shoulder and pulled her close in an odd version of a comforting hug.

"Guess what?" The olive skinned boy asked with a grin on his boyish face. The table looked at him with raised eyebrows, hoping the news would be something off the topic of Jade's complicated love life.

"Ryder's not gonna report you knocking the shit out of him since his dad would be pissed." Jade turned underneath his arm to look at Beck in confusion.

"What? Why?" She questioned, wondering what his dad had to do with anything.

"How do you think his dad would react to finding out his got knocked out by a girl? No offence. Anyway, his dad's pretty much a misogynist at heart. It wouldn't be pretty." Beck continued with a nonchalant shrug and a bite into his bagel. Derek stared intently at his phone, scrolling for a moment before frantically hitting his brother's shoulder while still reading the screen.

"Devin the soccer game is today!" He shouted and the entire café turned to look at him with a mixture of expressions, the majority looking as if they wanted to yell at him to shut the fuck up.

"Why are you such a chick? Take the squealing somewhere else." The tall boy shoved his brother's hand off his shoulders with an uncaring glance at him.

Derek rolled his eyes in irritation, "No, fucker, it's the way to get Jade a chance to apologize to Tori and there's a ninety-nine percent chance of it working. If she goes up to the game and shows support for the team then apologizes, everything will be solved. You're welcome." He grinned at Jade, turning the screen of his phone off and placing it on the table with a confident look in his eyes.

The pale girl exhaled loudly as she leaned back in her seat and turned her gaze on each one of them.

"Okay. Fine. I'll go. But you guys have to go too. It'll make more of an impact if I show up with the five most famous guys at school." She smirked.

"Even though you're all secretly losers." She chuckled and they looked at her in mock offence. Beck punched her shoulder playfully and nodded.

"We're in."

* * *

The sun was still high in the sky by the time the two teams were stretching and warming up before the game. The stands were moderately filled, considering that they weren't extremely far in the season yet and the stakes weren't nearly as high as they could be. Silence overtook the majority of the field and bleachers as the six teens walked in with a confident air about them. They _looked_ like rock stars. Hollywood Arts as well as the surrounding areas that were fans hadn't even heard Jade play yet, but just her personality and her beauty was enough to get her a fairly large following of groupies.

Tori had glanced up at the disturbance and her heart stopped when she saw Jade enter the stands with the rest of XXX. Her hand immediately flew to her hair to fix her ponytail before she realized what she was doing and shook her head. She had to stop trying to impress Jade. Excited chatter exploded throughout the bleachers at the sight of them and within seconds a rumor that they would perform after the game was spread via social media.

Beck, Andre, Ryan, Derek, Devin, and Jade were practically ambushed as soon as they sat down in an empty area of the bleachers. Girls were throwing themselves over each one of the guys and guys that were practically in love with Jade had worked up the nerve to ask her to sign their abs, foreheads, and shirts.

"I, uh, I don't have anything to sign with." She responded awkwardly, not expecting the attention. She knew that XXX was very popular but she expected the attention to be on the boys, not her. The brunet boy asking her to sign his abs handed her a black sharpie and she was surprised that people carried these things around. The raven haired girl shook her head and scrawled her signature across his stomach. She had signed several other people's various body parts, none of them explicit, before the whistle blew to signal the start of the game.

The crowd around them dissipated and Jade could finally see the field. Her eyes landed on Tori's jealous gaze across the field. Jade sent a hesitant half smile over to the brunette who took her bottom lip between her teeth and averted her eyes. Kickoff signaled the beginning of the first half and the opposite team wasted no time scoring three goals in a row. Jade sat back and watched the frustration on Hollywood Arts' team build. She leaned forward when the ball was in Tori's possession and she weaved through everyone with an ease that shocked Jade as she kicked the ball into the goal.

The H.A. side of the bleachers erupted in cheers and she cracked a smile. Soccer wasn't her thing, nor were sports in general, but watching Tori in her light blue and white uniform running up and down the field as the two teams struggled to keep the ball in their possession long enough to score was enough to pique Jade's interest.

After two forty-five minuet halves and a fifteen minuet half time, both teams were exhausted, yet Hollywood Arts' team were the ones with the grins on their faces. They won the game mainly with the help of Tori and Kara, both of which had dominated the field. Samara pulled her weight with defense as well, while Maya blocked every goal after the first three that they had given up. Their coach had recruited thirteen more girls to play for them at something like the last minuet because they had to have at least seven girls on the field.

It was a good thing he had gotten more players as well, because Cat had rolled her ankle in the middle of the second half and had to sit out for the rest of the game. As the girls ran off the field, cheering at their victory, Jade locked eyes with Tori as she stood with her hands in her pockets and a small smile on her face. The half-Latina stopped in front of Jade as the rest of the girls swarmed the guys to talk about their win.

"You looked great out there, Vega." Jade said, taking a step closer to put her a foot away from the brunette. Tori, forgetting all of the rules she had set for herself against Jade, blushed and smiled.

"You looked pretty good from where I could see, too." She laughed a little and bit her lip.

"Wow, you could see me through my groupies?" Jade teased with a chuckle and Tori's smile faltered.

"Yeah." She muttered and Jade rushed to amend things.

"No, Tori… I'm sorry for snapping on you this morning. That was a dick move and if you're still mad I totally get it, but-" Jade was cut off by Tori placing a soft, brief kiss on her pale cheek. The raven haired girl froze, but this time it wasn't from her space being invaded. It was from the chill that jolted up her spine. Her ears and cheeks turned pink and Tori's grin got ridiculously wider.

"I made you blush!" She laughed giddily and bounced on her toes in a little victory dance. Jade pushed her shoulder lightly and rolled her eyes at her antics.

"Whatever. You're still a dork, Vega. As a matter of fact, I'm gonna need you to back up a few steps, your nerd-ness is ruining my reputation by the second."

Tori stepped even closer with a smirk of her own in place.

"Aw, do I make you nervous?" She grinned as Jade seemed to be at a loss for words.

"You're cute when you're all flustered." The half-Latina continued to laugh as she walked back over to the rest of her team.

"I am _not_ cute!" Jade finally got out after staring after Tori in shock, huffing at the term.

Tori turned to look over her shoulder at Jade and sent the pale girl a wink before strutting off.

Tori Vega was going to be the death of her.

* * *

**A/N: **I was way too tired last night to finish this, so here it is today! Thanks so much for the feedback, I appreciate the longer reviews as well. I'm not sure why, but they're fun to read, haha. I know nothing about soccer, everything used in this chapter was from research. Apologies to any of my soccer fans/players if I screwed up the little bit of details that I did use for the game. Next chapter is XXX's first concert since they picked up Jade so we'll see how that goes. Any mistakes are mine.

Let me know what you guys thought, yeah?


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Four.**

* * *

Jade's first concert with XXX was on a Monday, but that definitely didn't stop people from hyping the event up to ridiculous proportions. She had gained thousands of new followers on The Slap, yet she was confused by the concept because there weren't even a thousand people at Hollywood Arts.

Ryan had carefully explained that people could give their email address or sync the updates from people they follow to their twitter, meaning that they didn't have to go to Hollywood Arts to follow you, only to make an account.

The raven haired girl was not one for social media before she got to this school, yet she couldn't complain about the attention. People had gotten shirts made for their concert after school in the Asphalt Café. They didn't perform at schools often, but when they did, the school instantly gained popularity as a whole.

Typically they played discreet locations where only people who knew the right people could be lucky enough to see them perform. Then on occasion, they would play at performance centers and different landmarks in L.A where people could come see them if they could afford the tickets, which tended to sell out very quickly.

Jade had gotten to meet the manager of their band right before they left for the school, his name was Lance and he was a very chill and laid back guy. The pale girl had no idea that XXX was massively popular, even more popular than she imagined, until she stepped onto the risen stage with the guys and looked out at a completely packed area.

The entire parking lot, Asphalt Café, and surrounding empty space was packed shoulder to shoulder with fans. The staff of the school had removed the tables used for lunch to make even more space. At a glance, Jade could see that there were easily a thousand people in attendance, if not more.

The masses of people wrapped around the school and even the streets surrounding Hollywood Arts. The cheering and chanting was deafening when Beck took the mic and introduced Jade as the newest member of the group.

"_How are you guys feeling tonight_?" Beck shouted into the microphone and was rewarded with a deafening roar from the crowd.

"As you know we have a new member!" He continued to speak over the noise and the crowd got impossibly louder as they chanted Jade's name over and over again.

"We're gonna open with a song that she wrote, how about that?" Beck yelled and was met with very loud approval from the audience. Andre and Beck began the opening chords on guitar while Ryan came in with the beat on the drums. Derek was on bass and Devin backed Jade up when she began the song.

"_Can we forget about the things I said when I was drunk? I didn't mean to call you that. I can't remember what you said or what you threw at me, please tell me, please tell me why, my car is in the front yard, and I'm, sleeping with my clothes on! I came in through the window last night and you're…gone. Gone."_ Jade sang the first verse and in the pause between that and the next one, people were waving up signs they made frantically as they screamed and chanted.

Ryan joined in with Jade and Devin with backup vocals as they began the next part.

"_It's no surprise to me, I am my own worst enemy. 'Cause every now and then I kick the living shit out of me. The smoke alarm is going off and there's a cigarette, still burnin'! Please tell me why, my car is in the front yard, and I'm, sleeping with my clothes on? I came in through the window, last night! It's no surprise to me I am my own worst enemy, 'cause every now and then I kick the living shit out of me. Can we forget about the things I said when I was drunk, I didn't mean to call you that…" _Jade finished off the last note and Beck and Andre strummed out the last chords to the song.

The surrounding area erupted in applause and cheers. They were absolutely captivated by Jade. Everything from her black hair spilling down her bare shoulders, left out in her black tank top, like obsidian ink; to her alluring voice and the way she held herself as she performed.

She acted as if she was born to be on that stage, making every guy and girl fall at her feet. They performed six more songs well into the night until it was over and they headed down to a secluded area where they would be signing autographs and taking pictures with their fans.

The first thing Jade saw as she looked out over the crowd before descending the stairs from the stage was a sign asking Jade's hand in marriage. She laughed, high off of the feeling of being adored and waved at the crowd before exiting the stage with the guys.

Tori was standing in the area that they were to be signing autographs when they entered. Her tan arms wrapped around Jade in a bone crushing hug as soon as she spotted the raven haired girl. Jade was surprised, but she hesitantly brought her arms up to hug the girl back.

"Tori? What are you doing here?" As soon as she said it, Jade realized it was a stupid question considering the amounts of people that showed up.

"You came to my game, I came to your concert. It's a win, win." The half-Latina smirked playfully and grabbed Jade's hands.

"You were amazing, you know that? Just do us all a favor and don't let the fame get to your head." Tori laughed even though she was serious and meant what she said. Jade nodded and leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"How can it not when I get pretty girls like you showing up here to see me?"

Tori's face flushed immediately at the compliment and she hit Jade's arm. The pale girl only smirked and wrapped her arm around the tan girls waist, pulling her to where the line of fans waited for her and the guys to sign something for them and take pictures.

"Now we're even for you making me blush yesterday, Vega." Jade chuckled and stood by the tables where they sold T-shirts and other paraphernalia with XXX's logo on it. Tori walked behind the table and sat in one of the chairs to collect money when people were let in to purchase the items.

When the doors were opened, the guys came in one by one from backstage where they had went to go get bottles of water. Andre tossed one to Jade and she caught it with one hand, twisting the cap off in one fluid motion and downing half of it.

"Thanks. So should I be worried about some of your crazy ass fans?" Jade smirked up at Beck and nudged his side with her elbow.

"_Our_ fans are insane. So yeah." He laughed and told the guards to let the fans in. They lined up and one by one got their T-shirts or bodies signed by each member. Tori could barely keep up with all the money being handed to her for the band's merchandise and it didn't help that Jade's beaming grin was distracting her every few minuets.

It was pretty great to witness someone going from losing everything to gaining so many people who adored her. Tori's only hope was that she was the only person to know Jade as a person, not just the sexy new member of XXX with the seductive raspy voice and killer body.

Several fights nearly broke out over all of the members, Jade and Beck being the main ones targeted for less than orderly conduct. One guy in particular had come on far too strong to Jade to the point where she shouted out that she was gay and had no interest in guys whatsoever.

She only laughed instead of punching him when he said that didn't mean he couldn't watch, which was probably due to the flirty look Tori was sending her from across the room and the pounding of her heart was far too distracting from the anger.

When all was said and done and the entire area around Hollywood Arts was mostly cleared out, it was just the guys, Jade, and Tori left. They sat around the room and laughed until they were crying at each other's jokes that wouldn't have even been that funny were they not high on life at that exact moment. Jade looked around her at the people in the room and she figured this family wasn't so bad.

* * *

When Tori and Jade got back to the house it was nearly four in the morning. Jade had already made it up in her mind that there was no point in going to sleep, so she raided the fridge for energy drinks and sat on the couch with Tori's legs across her lap.

They had spent at least an hour watching mindless cartoons and laughing uncontrollably at each other and the TV show, both delirious with lack of sleep. Trina had even left to stay at her friend's house when she realized that she'd never get any sleep as long as those two were awake.

Tori was wrestling Jade for the remote when the pale girl had made a move to turn to the horror channel. Never mind that Jade was substantially stronger than she was, Tori wasn't going down without a fight. Their playing around ceased at a frantic beating on the door.

They both looked at each other with worry creasing their foreheads as they jumped up and pulled the door open. Standing there was the tear-streaked face of Cat Valentine, her clothes yanked out of shape and haphazardly hanging on her small body.

Her hands were shaking frantically as she immediately reached out and clutched Tori's body in a hug as if her life depended on it. Jade shut the door behind them and turned around to look at the redhead.

"What the hell happened?" She asked, though in the back of her mind she knew the answer. She really was just hoping that she was wrong. Dark brown eyes turned from where her face was buried in Tori's shoulder to look at Jade. It took a moment to calm down enough to talk, but she eventually managed.

"I went down to- to the concert to see if I could m-make things right between us." Cat's voice started out strong and got shakier and shakier as she went on.

"I couldn't really get in too far because- because there were so many people. Then this guy said he could sneak me in through the back to see you…" Cat was sobbing again by the time she got to that point in the story, yet she was determined to push through.

"So then he pulled me into the bathroom and I couldn't get away. Nobody was there to help me because they were all outside listening to you guys perform. And- and he h-hurt me." Cat sobbed into Tori's shoulder as the brunette held the smaller girl close to her body. Her brown eyes met panicked blue ones in question. What the hell were they supposed to do? Jade bit her lip as she thought fast and snapped her fingers.

"Vega, grab my car keys. We're taking her to the hospital. Then the police station." Jade ordered. When Tori just looked at her, still in shock, Jade yelled again. "Come on, Vega, let's go!" Jade wrapped her arm around Cat's shoulders and led her outside to her car. Tori came out seconds later and unlocked the car door.

Jade strapped the shaking girl in the backseat and took the keys from Tori as they all got settled in the car. Jade turned the key in the ignition while Tori called her dad. Jade sped down the street to the nearest hospital and turned her head slightly to ask Tori who the hell she was calling.

"My dad. He's a cop. It'll be quicker if he's expecting us and he might even meet us down at the hospital." The half-Latina quickly explained right before her dad answered his phone. As she retold the story and the situation to him, the guilt in Jade's stomach was physically painful.

Innocent little Cat Valentine had come into a sea of rowdy and crazy XXX fans just to try and earn her friendship. She wouldn't have gotten raped if it weren't for her. Jade's mind kept shouting that thought at her and by the time she had pulled up to the hospital, she had vowed that she would keep that girl safe from then on.

Several hours and tense confrontations with doctors later found Tori and Jade sitting in the waiting room with grim expressions on their tired faces. Tori couldn't believe how a night could go from being so amazing to being devastating in the blink of an eye.

Officer Vega arrived shortly after they had and he had gone into the doctor's area with Cat to get an official statement. The entire process was taking far too long in Jade's opinion and the only thing they had been assured about was the fact that the hospital had several different ways to make sure that the redhead didn't get pregnant.

Tori had leaned her head on Jade's shoulder and quickly wiped her eyes of any stray tears. Jade looked down at the half-Latina and wrapped her arms around the girl.

"She's okay. She'll be fine, okay? We did the right thing, your dad said so." The pale girl murmured soothingly to a distraught Tori. The brunette nodded against Jade's shoulder and reached up to intertwine their fingers. As Jade looked down at their hands, she realized that maybe she had nothing to be afraid of with Tori.

Her resolve was wavering by the moment every minuet that they were together, the resolve that kept her from pursuing a relationship with the brown eyed girl. Her ex girlfriend would have never sat in this waiting room with her for anyone, that was just how she was. As Jade thought about it, she realized that she had been with someone with no regard for anyone but herself. Tori wasn't at all that person. Tori made her want to be a _better_ person.

Cat stayed with them that night after Tori had called Holly and let her know what happened to the little redhead. Cat took Jade's new room for the night after being assured that her and Tori were just across the hall if she needed them and Holly was downstairs.

Only after Cat calmed down from tiring herself out did she fall asleep, by that time it was seven in the morning and none of them would be attending school that day. Jade shared Tori's bed with the exhausted half-Latina and they fell into a deep sleep, completely wrapped around each other in what they would claim to be comfort if asked about it.

The reality was that they had a connection that was definitely rare between two people, a connection that wouldn't let them stay away from each other if they tried.

So when pictures of them holding hands after the concert and ones of Jade's arms wrapped around her waist leaked onto nearly every social media site after they were fast asleep, Jade wouldn't be angry about it when she woke up.

* * *

**A/N: **We're starting to get into the thick of the plot line now. Thanks so much for the reviews, I appreciate every one of them. The story gets pretty drama filled from this point, so get ready. Any mistakes are mine, if you see 'em, point it out and I'll fix it. The song used in this chapter is My Own Worst Enemy by Lit (It's a really cool song, so check it out if you've never heard it). Also, since I forgot, the song used in in the first chapter is Stubborn Love by the Lumineers (Also one of my favorites).

Let me know your thoughts and how you're liking this so far, yeah?


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 5**

* * *

Blue eyes fluttered open at around three in the afternoon to the very pleasant view of Tori Vega standing in her bra and underwear, deciding on an outfit for the day. A grin pulled at the corners of Jade's lips as she trailed her gaze up Tori's body from bottom to top. Feeling her gaze, Tori turned to look at Jade and smiled when she met her eyes. Tori got her own eyeful as well. Jade had woken up with her arms folded behind her head, pushing her chest out in the tank top she had gone to sleep in.

The covers bunched around her legs and the sight of Jade in her bed was enough to nearly make Tori swoon. Her eyes lingered on where the tank top had ridden up on Jade's toned stomach, getting caught in the dip on either side of her waist which made up the curve of the pale girl's hips. Jade's grin turned into a smirk as she reached out and grabbed the half-Latina's wrist and yanked her on the bed. Tori bounced twice and took in the blue eyed stare that practically demand that she lay back down.

When she complied, Jade wrapped her arm around her tan waist and pulled her into her body so that they spooned. The raven haired girl whispered a husky good morning in Tori's ear and the hummingbirds that erupted in the half-Latina's stomach rendered her speechless and unable to do anything but shiver in the pale arms that held her. Jade chuckled and turned Tori around to face her.

"Are you sure you're really up right now? Wouldn't want you to forget all of this later." The brown eyed girl smiled at the way Jade was looking at her after she said that. She looked at her like there was a deep longing for the brunette and Tori melted at the sight.

"No, I'm up. I made up my mind." Jade murmured to the tan girl and let her fingers trace up the dip of Tori's hip bone, up her stomach. The brunette's lip caught between her teeth as she watched Jade.

"I thought about a lot of things last night. Aside from what happened to Cat, I thought a lot about what having us being a _thing_ would feel like." Jade said and Tori's heart fell into her stomach at what the pale girl was saying to her. Was Jade finally going to be hers? Would she no longer have to worry about some groupie taking a place in Jade's heart from out of the blue? In the back of her mind she could only wonder why Jade didn't have morning breath.

For a second, she thought that maybe she really _was_ perfect, but then a cloudy memory of Jade getting up to brush her teeth and take a shower at around nine in the morning before she went back to sleep resurfaced and she was able to focus again.

"What… What are you saying?" Tori asked breathlessly with a permanent smile pulling at her lips. Jade just chuckled and leaned in slowly, giving Tori enough time to pull away if she wished.

Their lips pressed together gently at first, Jade's arm wrapping more securely around Tori's waist and pulling her barely clothed body firmly against her own. Tori's thigh found itself between Jade's legs as she wrapped around the raven haired girl. Jade's tongue prodded Tori's lips and the half-Latina parted them without hesitation. Their tongues battled for dominance as Tori got the sudden urge to take over with Jade, however Jade wasn't having any of it. The pale girl rolled them over so that she straddled Tori's hips.

Pale fingers wrapped themselves around the brunette's wrists and held them above her head as she pressed their lips back together.

"I'm saying…" The blue eyed girl said breathlessly as she trailed down Tori's neck.

"That I want you…to be mine." Jade murmured breathlessly as she pulled away from the tan expanse of skin in front of her to look Tori in the eye. The brunette nodded excitedly with a face splitting smile on her face. Jade chuckled at her reaction and bit Tori's bottom lip gently, pulling back a little and letting it go with a wet _pop_. Tori's hips thrust upward automatically at the gesture and she whimpered. Jade arched a perfect eyebrow at the reaction that she got and filed away for future reference.

The raven haired girl let go of Tori's hands to run her palms up and down the flat plane of Tori's stomach. The half-Latina arched her back into the caress as she brought her fingers up to run through Jade's raven tresses. A content sound passed through the pale girl's lips at the action and she leaned down to place lazy kisses down Tori's jaw to her neck and collar bone. The relief they were both feeling in that moment, especially because they had both wanted this since they met, even if Jade hadn't realized it until recently.

The odd connection and attraction that she felt to Tori since they day they met had been draining and now, relieving that strain of not being together, it was as if a vital part of them had been replenished.

A gentle knock on the door made them jump apart immediately and when Tori yelled for the visitor to enter, they were both a respectable distance away on the bed and the covers were up around the half-Latina so that no one could tell she was only barely dressed.

A head of red hair peeked into the room and its owner attempted a smile which came out like more of a grimace.

"Good morning." Cat said, barely audible. Tori and Jade said the greeting back to the small girl as she attempted to get her thoughts in order.

"I just woke up…and I'm really sad." Cat mumbled, expressing herself in the only way she knew how. She was typically so happy that she didn't know exactly how to say that she was feeling any different. She didn't know that the feelings running through her could be signs of depression. The entire thing was a foreign concept to her. Her small fingers tugged at the ends of her long hair for a moment as she sorted herself out.

"Can we go to Freezy Queen? That always makes me feel better." She continued, yet not in her usually high, peppy voice. There was the beginning of a monotone voice coming from the petite redhead that startled both Jade and Tori. The two of them looked at each other before turning back to Cat and nodding their consent.

"Um, yeah. Let's get dressed and meet down stairs in thirty." Jade said, sitting up and running her hand through her hair to push it out of her face. Cat nodded absentmindedly and trudged out of the room, closing the door behind her. Jade blew a breath out that sounded more like a long-suffering sigh. Her face was soon placed in her hands as she shook her head.

"This is my fucking fault. I did this to her. If I would have just left the band alone… No, had I just properly put the fucking cigarette out back home she would have been fine because I would have never came into her life." Jade ranted to no one in particular, but when she looked up from her hands, there were tears in her blue eyes. Tori had never seen Jade cry in the short time that they'd known each other. Jade West didn't seem to be the type that cried over anything.

She was a hard-ass through and through but the guilt gnawing at her insides was slowly becoming unbearable. Tori immediately sat up and took Jade's shaking hands in her own. She couldn't stand to see her in pain, so Tori looked directly into Jade's eyes and spoke from her heart.

"None of this is your fault. Some sick bastard deciding to take away a part of Cat's life had nothing to do with you, okay? It could have happened to anyone, anywhere. But it just so happened to have occurred at the concert and there was no way that you could have prevented that from happening. There was no reason that you would have even thought to have precautions against that sort of thing. No one expects to get taken advantage of, okay? Cat doesn't blame you, I don't blame you, no one does. But you're blaming yourself, Jade. You're taking all of the guilt because you don't know who else to blame and that's going to seriously hurt you in the future if you don't stop that right now." Tori finished with a gentle kiss to the pale girl's forehead.

"You're okay." Tori reminded her and Jade took a deep breath, nodding and using the back of her fingers to dab at her eyes before the tears could spill over. With one more firm nod, she pulled away from Tori so that she could get dressed. The half-Latina watched Jade strip down and dress in her usual dark attire, looking every bit the rock heartthrob that she was. She couldn't help but think that even with all of the misfortune that led to them getting to that point; she was the luckiest person in the world.

* * *

Freezy Queen wasn't far from Tori's house, so they walked there, figuring that the fresh air would be good for Cat. Maybe she could clear her mind and relax a little bit at least for the afternoon. The place was mostly empty, considering that it was a Tuesday and only four in the afternoon. No one from Hollywood Arts would be out of school yet, since they got out at five. There was an elderly couple sitting in the far back of the restaurant and a middle aged man who seemed to be video chatting with his son.

Tori and Jade walked Cat up to the register and ordered what they wanted. Jade didn't get anything, claiming that frozen yogurt wasn't her style and then she joked that her badass reputation didn't permit the consumption of prissy foods.

"'Fro-yo'? That word _sounds_ like it's for pussies." Jade grumbled as they took a seat in a booth, Tori next to Cat and across from Jade. Cat's hands flew up to her ears at the word and her lips parted to form an 'O'.

"_Jade_!" Cat whined, her large brown eyes going wide as well.

"I hate that word." The redhead pouted as she slowly lowered her hands from her ears so that she could begin to dig into her frozen yogurt. Jade smirked and shrugged, watching as Tori lifted her spoonful of creamy dessert to her lips. The pale girl bit her lip and winked at the half-Latina as the spoon made its way into her mouth. Tori blushed profusely and looked down at her food as the door chime alerted them to another person entering the shop. All three gazes turned at the sudden sound and two hearts fell into their stomachs, namely Cat and Jade. Jane was standing in the doorway with an enraged glare as her auburn hair blew around her face in the breeze. Her heels clicked on the tile as she walked straight to their table and grabbed Cat roughly by the arm.

"I just received a text message from a colleague of mine saying that she saw my _missing_ daughter enter this restaurant. Which I find odd, considering the fact that I received a visit from Officer Vega with about an official statement that my daughter gave about being molested." Jane's voice wasn't particularly quiet, so the elderly couple and the middle aged man were sending them very odd looks. Jade stood from her seat and stared Jane right in the eye.

"Alright, I'm not sure if you're just really shitty at showing emotion, but you shouldn't be making light of this situation. As you now know, your daughter was taken advantage of last night. Yet, who was there taking care of her? Me, Tori, and Mrs. Vega. I'm sorry, where the fuck were you?" Jade hissed, keeping her voice down as not to draw attention, yet she had a calm about her that made her seem ten times more threatening. Jane's lips pursed and she jutted her chin out in defiance. Once again, she grabbed Cat's arm and yanked her up, making her spill her frozen yogurt on the table.

Tori and Jade could only watch in anger as Cat was forced from the restaurant, pleading with her mother until they couldn't hear her anymore outside of the door. The Jade and Tori looked at each other as the blue eyed girl sat down slowly.

"Cat's dad is really good friend's with mine." Tori said randomly and Jade looked at her questioningly.

"What does that have to do with anything?" The raven haired girl muttered as she reached over and stole Tori's spoon from her own bowl of frozen yogurt.

"It means that we might have someone on our side. We can talk to Mr. Valentine, and you know, see if he can do anything about 'Mother Dearest'." Tori rolled her eyes at the thought of the woman, yet her attention was divided as she watched Jade lick the frozen yogurt from off of her spoon.

"Can you not do that right now? I'm trying to focus." The half-Latina complained, taking the spoon from the pale girl.

"Oh, am I distracting you?" Jade asked with a smirk and a wink thrown in the brunette's direction.

"No, come on Jade, we need to do something about Cat!" Tori snapped them back to attention and she pushed her bowl away.

"We can figure it out on the way." Jade said as she stood up and pulled her jacket up around her shoulders. Tori looked up at her in confusion, not knowing what Jade was talking about.

"Wait, what? On the way to where?"

"To rehearsal." Jade answered simply, grabbing the discarded bowl of frozen yogurt and tossing it in the trash before walking back over to the table.

"You're seriously going to rehearsal? At a time like this?" Tori asked and Jade groaned.

"Now you're just repeating everything I'm saying, come on, Vega! We can figure it out when we get there."

In Jade's haste, her and Tori arrived early and had a good twenty minuets before the guys would show up. Jade tuned the guitar once they arrived in the band room and set it up for later. Tori wandered around the hot room and trailed her fingers across nearly every opened instrument.

"What do you play besides piano?" Jade asked randomly, watching her new girlfriend walk around, enthralled by the instruments. Brown eyes locked on blue and a smile pulled at Tori's lips.

"I learned this one song on the guitar a while back… and now I kinda have a reason to play it to someone." The half-Latina grinned and picked up the acoustic guitar sitting off to the side. Her long fingers glided over the first few chords of the song as she tapped her foot against the carpet to keep the beat. Jade leaned back against the closed piano and watched Tori with a proud look in her pale blue eyes.

"_You tell all the boys no. Makes you feel good, yeah. I know you're outta my league, but that won't scare me away, oh no. You've built your walls so high you couldn't stop if you tried it. You've built your walls so high, that no one could climb it. But I'm gonna try." _Tori's voice rang out around the room and took Jade off guard with the strength and her tone. Tori Vega was very impressive and Jade could only watch as her own defenses came crumbling down and she was left emotionally bare for Tori, who sang to her, who reached into her like no one had ever done before.

"_Would you let me, see beneath your beautiful? Would you let me, see beneath your perfect? Take it off now girl, take it off now girl, 'cause I wanna see inside. Would you let me, see beneath your beautiful tonight."_ Tori met Jade's eyes as she continued to sing and the raven haired girl couldn't pull her gaze away for anything. She trusted Tori.

"_You let all the girls go. Make you feel good, don't it? Behind your Broadway show, I hear a voice say 'please don't hurt me'. You've built your walls so high you couldn't stop if you tried it. You've built your walls so high, that no one could climb it. But I'm gonna try." _

Jade bit down on her lip in order to keep her emotions in check, the way that Tori was singing from the heart straight to her was making the pale girl's heart slam in her chest with the emotions she was feeling for Tori in that very moment.

"_Would you let me, see beneath your beautiful? Would you let me, see beneath your perfect? Take it off now boy take it off now boy, 'cause I wanna see inside. Would you let me, see beneath your beautiful tonight." _Tori stood up and walked over to Jade as she sang, taking her time with the calming flow of the acoustic. Jade's eyes never left Tori's.

"_I wanna climb on atop your ivory tower. I'll hold your hand and then we'll jump right out. We'll be falling, falling, but that's okay. 'Cause I'll be right here. I just wanna know… would you let me, see beneath your beautiful? Would you let me, see beneath your perfect? Take it off now girl take it off now girl, 'cause I wanna see inside, would you let me, see beneath your beautiful tonight? Would you let me… see beneath your beautiful… tonight?"_ Tori finished the last note and looked up from the guitar to watch Jade who was looking down and away in an attempt to hide the fact that she had indeed began to shed tears throughout the song.

Tori cooed and reached up to wipe away the stray tears. The pale girl just stared at Tori for a moment before she reached out and pulled the guitar strap from around her shoulders and set the instrument back on it's stand. The next second, her arms were around Tori's waist and their lips were fused together as if they had been starved their entire lives. Maybe Jade did have many unfortunate events in her life, but it was moments like these that she was almost grateful for the events that led to that moment. She thought she had been happy before, but now she knew the true definition of happiness and she wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

* * *

**A/N: **I'm really excited to write the plot twist in this story, which may or may not come up in the next couple of chapters. I'm hoping none of you guess what it is, especially because there's been no hints to it yet... I'll give some more next chapter though. Thanks so much for the feedback and your favorites and follows. Even though those of you who favorite/follow me _and_ the story but still don't review makes it kinda frustrating, haha. Still appreciated all the same! The song used in this chapter is Beneath Your Beautiful, inspired by the cover that Liz Gillies did with Max Schneider. Keep up the reviews, yeah?


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Six.**

* * *

"Hello?"

"_Hello. Is this Victoria Vega_?" A gruff voice came from the other end of the line. Tan fingers tensed around the phone at just the tone of voice. Whatever this was about, she could already tell that it was serious.

"Yeah-yes, sir. Is there a problem?" Tori replied somberly as a pair of bright blue eyes locked with hers. It had only been a week since the entire fiasco of Cat's uptight mother ripping her away from the rest of her friends. She hadn't been to school the rest of the week, which was understandable, yet there was no outside contact at all. They hadn't heard a single word from the little redheaded girl. Tori was lying in her bed with Jade, Holly having left out to go grocery shopping. Their legs were intertwined as the man on the other line explained his reason for calling.

"_Your father ordered me to notify you of this as soon as we received word. We have found our main suspect for Caterina Valentine's rape." _

Tori's eyes bulged and she sat up quickly, causing Jade's upper body to get tugged up with her since the pale girl was resting her head on the half-Latina's chest. A blue eyed glare and scowl was shot in her direction for the interruption. Tori waved Jade off and gestured for her to be quiet. The raven haired girl's eyes widened incredulously because she hadn't even opened her mouth yet and she didn't take well to people telling her what to do.

"Wh-Who is it, sir?" Tori asked hesitantly, she wasn't sure if it was a question that she wanted the answer to, though she knew that she needed it anyway.

"_Lance Chapman._ _From our background check we've gathered that he is the…" _The voice trailed off and Tori could hear the shuffling of papers as well as the quick sound of keys being hit on a keyboard before he finished.

"…_the manager of the band that played that concert. XXX."_ Tori's heart fell into her stomach as a look of disbelief overtook her features. Jade, who had gotten up and had been using the pair of scissors on Tori's desk to cut up the brunette's post-its looked up just in time to see the expression. Jade was up in an instant, sitting down next to Tori and trying to coax information out of her. She really needed to know what was making her girlfriend so upset.

"Oh. Um…well, thank you for letting me know. I- make sure you…yeah, okay. Yes, sir…you too." Tori hung up the phone with a dazed expression on her face. The end of the conversation that Jade heard didn't sound that bad, yet if it weren't for the look on Tori's face, Jade wouldn't have guessed that there was anything wrong. A pale hand interlocked through Tori's as Jade tilted her head in order to see Tori's eyes, which were staring off into the distance.

"Vega?" Jade prompted hesitantly, a frown overtaking her features when she received no response right away. In fact, Tori looked on the verge of a mild anxiety attack with the way her breathing had sped up and an anxious look appeared in her eyes. Jade let out an uneasy laugh, not knowing how to react to such a thing.

"C'mon Sunshine, what happened?" Jade asked with a worried look on her face and a bad feeling churning in her stomach. Tori still had yet to answer, though her brown eyes finally flicked over to meet Jade's.

"Tori? Baby, talk to me." The pale girl begged, not liking the feeling of ice that stiffened up her spine at the tension in the air.

"Your- manager…" Tori began breathlessly, trailing off after the second word. Jade leaned forward, cupping tan cheeks in her hands to keep Tori's eyes locked on hers.

"Who? Lance?" Jade asked, her eyebrows drawing together. Tori nodded and drew in a deep breath.

"He- that was an officer… one on Cat's case. He, um. He said that your mana- Lance…That he's looking like main suspect. For Cat's rape. They think he did it." Tori finally got the words out even though they had been stuck in her throat and clawing up her esophagus, trying to force their way out of her mouth.

Tori's long fingers reached up to lie over Jade's as she watched the news sink in on the blue eyed girl's face. Jade slowly pulled her hands away and stood from her spot on the bed. She seemed to be looking at air, or nothing in particular. Her feet slowly carried her across the room toward the door as if in a trance and Tori stood abruptly.

"Baby?" The half-Latina mumbled quietly as not to startle the shocked girl. Jade began shaking her head, turning to face Tori with a determined look in those pale blue eyes.

"No. No, he didn't do this. They're wrong. Someone can be framing him, or whatever else, but he didn't do this." With the little bit of time that Jade had spent with the man in question, to most it would seem as if she didn't have valid grounds to back him up. Yet, Jade knew his personality in a heartbeat because it was the same personality of her father.

Maybe they hadn't always seen eye to eye, but there was just that caring and fatherly nature about him that was identical to her father's. That was enough for Jade to know in her heart that he was not the man who did this. Tori crossed the room and wrapped her arms around Jade's waist, looking up into focused cerulean eyes.

"So what now? How do we prove he's innocent? I heard what that man said, he's the main suspect right now." Tori reminded her girlfriend, not trying to be negative, just stating the facts.

"So? We find who the fuck did this shit and we throw his perverted ass under the bus." Jade declared with a fire in her eyes that made Tori's insides melt. The next thing she knew, her lips were smashed against Jade's with a passion that took them both off guard. The pale girl pulled back after a moment and quirked an eyebrow at her blushing girlfriend.

"And what was that for?" She chucked, running her hands down the half-Latina's arms.

"Sorry. It's just really sexy when you take control like that." Tori smiled and pecked Jade's lips for good measure. Jade's hands firmly gripped Tori's ass and pulled her impossibly closer.

"Oh, really?" Jade smirked and Tori's pupils dilated instantly, but she shook her head and pulled away, hitting Jade's arm.

"Stop it! We can't keep getting distracted like this! We need to help Cat." Tori said seriously and Jade nodded somberly.

"Yes ma'am." The raven haired girl chuckled and held the door open for Tori so that they could both walk out into the hallway and head downstairs.

On the way out of the house, Jade wasted no time calling the guys and telling them to meet her down at Jet Brew for an emergency. With assurance that they would meet her down there as soon as possible, Tori and Jade left in the pale girl's car. Tori had raised an eyebrow at her girlfriend when she had pulled out a pair of dark aviators from the glove compartment and put them on even though the sky was overcast.

Upon noticing the look she was receiving from the youngest Vega, Jade shrugged one shoulder and stepped even harder on the gas pedal.

"It's hard for me to drive in the day time. The light fucks with my eyes." Jade explained and Tori's look of anxiety sparked once more.

"No, I'm fine with the glasses. Chill out, Vega." Jade chuckled reassuringly as they made their way to their destination.

Upon entry, the bell chimed while Tori walked inside with Jade in tow. They picked their usual seats close to the back of the café. The chilled air-conditioned air sent a comfortable breeze in their direction. The waxed wooden floor mixed with the old age vibe of the area gave it a very relaxing, homey feel. The half-Latina had just walked up to the register to order her and Jade's drinks when the guys all entered at once, drawing glances from the other patrons.

A couple of teenage girls on the other side of the room whispered frantically to each other at the sight, yet other than that no one else paid them any mind. They all crowded around the booth that Jade was already seated in and the five boys piled into both sides, leaving only the smallest amount of space for Tori right across from Jade on the end seat. Blue eyes instantly snapped up to meet each of theirs with a seriousness that made their boyish rowdy chatter come to a lull.

Five pairs of eyes turned on her as they waited for whatever she was about to tell them. Tori walked briskly over to the table and took her seat across from Jade, handing the girl her preference of black coffee and two sugars that the taller girl promptly emptied into the cup. After she spent roughly a minuet stirring the drink and then putting the cap back on, the guys were all ready to explode from the tension in the air.

Jade parted her lips slowly and leaned forward in her seat while Tori had a hard time concentrating on the situation at hand. How could she when Jade was so unintentionally alluring? Everything about her from the way that she moved to her voice to her intense gaze was making the half-Latina's head spin. Jade was _hers._

Though, that was beside the point at the moment.

"Our manager has been deemed the main suspect in Cat's rape." Jade stated bluntly, not willing to drag on the suspense any longer. She thought that prolonging it would make it less horrible but in reality it was only making it worse. A collective raise of eyebrows in total shock went around the table with everyone but the two females.

"Dude, no."

"What?"

"You're fucking kidding."

"No. No, you're lying."

"That doesn't even make sense."

Derek, Beck, Lucas, Devin, and Andre said respectively. Lucas ran a hand through his sandy brown curly hair and leaned forward in his seat, eyes squinting as if that would make the situation easier to grasp. He opened his mouth to say something and then closed it, thinking of a better way to phrase his words. His white teeth flashed in something similar to Jade's signature smirk and his eyes locked with the raven haired girl.

"There's more, and you have a plan, don't you?" He chuckled, his deep, raspy voice carrying out determinedly. That same voice had girls swooning for him on the regular and he and Beck often competed for who had the most following of women in Hollywood Arts. Now Jade would soon be a part of their competition, considering that she had outed herself recently. Jade nodded with a confident gleam in her azure eyes.

"There's no way he did it. I know that and even you morons know it, meaning that there's a way to prove it." The pale girl continued once everyone's eyes were on her.

"We're gonna find the asshole that did this. But, me and Vega are gonna need your…assistance. See, Cat hasn't said much about this and we haven't heard from her for a while, even when we found out who the police think did this. If we can get a hold of Cat, we can get information first hand. _But_, the she-devil, otherwise known as her mother, is making that impossible. We need you five to distract her while Vega and I get in the house. Simple enough?" The blue eyed girl instructed and though the guys rolled their eyes at her obviously patronizing tone of voice, they nodded. They knew that Jade cared for them, even if she did have a very odd way of showing it.

"So what exactly do you want us to do, Jade?" Beck asked, his laid back and chill attitude could easily become irritating to Jade had she not known that it was just how he was. Mainly because of the fact that it could seem that he didn't care about anything when in reality, he was just very willing to go with the flow. Tori nervously bit her lip as she thought about what they were really doing. They were messing with a rapist, one that was obviously very clever if the LAPD couldn't even get a hold of him. So far their only hope was to get Cat to release enough details that they could go from there. If they couldn't get her mother away from her, then they were fucked. One more glance at Jade and her in control expression was enough to sooth her worries for the moment, thought they would definitely be back in the late hours of the night when she couldn't sleep.

"Dear God, do I have to explain everything? You boys are smart, at least I would hope you are, figure something out." She dismissed his question with the wave of her hand. She was in serious mode at the moment, the second that she was alone with Tori, however, was the second that her barriers dropped and she was back in her rare playful mood. The guys all glanced at each other, Devin and Derek being uncharacteristically quiet in their time at the café. Jade figured it was because of their discomfort toward the situation, that or something that they'd rather not share with the rest of the table at that time. Whatever their situation be, Jade left it alone and stood from her seat, Tori following out of habit.

"We're leaving?" Tori asked hesitantly, her chocolate brown eyes trailing over the reluctant and determined faces of the boys before snapping her gaze back to her girlfriend. Blue eyes were trained on the red pear shaped device in her hand as she nodded absently.

"We apparently have a meeting for right now. _Mother Dearest_ has flown from her cave, but with Cat, so our plan is still on. Leon, Cat's father and my uncle, would like to speak to us." Jade finished with a professional air that made Tori's mind flop around. Where had these different facets of Jade been hiding all this time? Never mind that they had only known each other for a couple of weeks.

They exited the shop with a few parting words to the guys and by the time they pulled into the Valentine's driveway, it was nearly three in the afternoon. Once inside the spacious Valentine residence, Tori and Jade were greeted by a very enthusiastic Leon. His blue eyes were alight with a revived excitement as he went over all of the ways of the legal world that would benefit Jade's manager's case. He showed them loopholes and how evidence was looked at. It was all very complicatedly intricate yet the two teenagers hung on his every word.

He sported a red polo shirt with white, pressed khakis and Ralph Lauren sandals. His fancy aviators sat atop his blond hair as he led them to his office in the back room. Jade's senses were assaulted by the smell of old cigars and expensive cologne. The burgundy carpet was plush beneath their feet, shoes were to be removed at the door, and a large flat screen hung on the wall above a stone fireplace. A leather recliner sat in front of a mahogany coffee table aligned with the flat screen television. Blue and brown eyes took in everything around them with an appreciative gaze.

The man's mahogany desk was on the opposite side of the room, where the top was littered in papers and scraps of news paper articles. His laptop sat closed in the middle of it all. That, however wasn't what made the hair on the back of Jade's neck raise. Her caution stemmed from the giant white board behind his desk chair. There were pictures of several girls, none of which Jade had seen in her life, news paper articles from the scraps on his desk, names and places written in dry erase marker with multicolored lines connecting them all together.

This wouldn't look out of place in a detective's office, but Leon was defiantly not that. She knew for a fact that he had attended law school, yet was able to drop out because with his father's passing, he inherited millions. It was downright obsessive to keep up with whatever it was on that board. Tori's face looked slightly more disturbed than Jade's, only because she knew of those girls. Those were the faces teenage girls who had gone missing and were later found raped and murdered over the past five years.

Leon was still explaining the legal world when he realized what they were staring at. With an even wider grin than before, his began pointing to famous clubs, hangout spots, and the like that these girls were at. He explained the connections between every one of them and who he narrowed the killer down to be. Jade's head began shaking slowly at the absurdity of it all. There was no way that this man was serious. What he was doing was disturbing.

As she looked closer, she saw that most of the news paper clippings were pictures of the bodies, how they were murdered. Those were the ones with a green circle around it, which then connected to a handful of clubs in LA. The ones with red circles were names and faces of suspects and witnesses. Her stomach clenched at the ones with X's over the face, mainly because she had a feeling those people weren't alive any longer. The thought that he hadn't added his own daughter to the growing list of girls hadn't occurred to Jade until much later as she lie in her own bed, wide awake at three in the morning.

How the fuck was she supposed to sleep when she was convinced that Mr. Valentine played a bigger role in all of this than she could have ever imagined?

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry for the wait on this chapter! I was spending the time outlining the rest of this story and _The Cards That Life Deals You_ so now these can be finished up in a handful chapters :) I'm also working on a pretty sick oneshot, so bare with me, please. Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and alerts guys! They mean a lot. Let me know what you thought of this chapter, yeah?


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Seven.**

* * *

It was nearly ten o'clock when Tori and Jade returned home from the Valentine residence. As creepy as Leon had been acting, it was a no brainer that they still needed the information that he had, The sky was pitch black and no stars were able to be seen due to them living in the city. After Tori unlocked the door and entered with the pale girl in tow, they were immediately confronted by Holly Vega. Her face had an expression of worry as she pulled both girls into an embrace.

"Where have you two been?" She demanded, partially out of anger and partially out of relief. Jade gave a guilty smile and pulled back just slightly.

"It was my fault. I needed to drive around and clear my head. Tori was nice enough to accompany me." The pale girl stated. Holly raised an eyebrow with skepticism.

"So you're telling me that you've been driving around for six hours, Jade?" The blue eyed girl gave an apologetic shrug and a smile. Holly shook her head and sighed softly.

"Fine. For now. Anyway, Vanity Fair wanted to schedule an interview and photo shoot for tomorrow. Your manager said that you're already going, so be ready." Holly relayed the information. After Jade nodded in understanding, she gave Tori a kiss on the cheek and disappeared upstairs for the rest of the night. Tori glanced at Jade and gave a small smile.

"Your first interview. Are you nervous?" The half-Latina inquired. Jade shrugged one shoulder upward as she seemed to ponder the question.

"Not really. I'm more worried about you." The pale girl chuckled amusedly. Tori tilted her head to the side, looking completely lost.

"Me? Why?" Tori asked and her voice went up several octaves in worry. Jade's pale blue eyes wandered over her girlfriend with an amused glance before she wrapped her arms around the half-Latina's small waist. The pale girl's lips lifted with mirth.

"They may be interviewing me, but you're all they'll be talking about." When Tori's expression never shifted from confusion, Jade huffed in exasperation.

"Have you seen the pictures that leaked online after the concert? People already have that… uh, sailor thing for us already. Whatever it's called."

Tori's eyebrows lifted as laughter bubbled up her throat at Jade's response.

"Sailor thing? You mean ships?" The tan girl laughed, leaning her head against Jade's shoulder for support as her knees went weak. Jade frowned a little at being laughed at, but she cared deeply for the one laughing so she let it slide.

"Yeah, that thing." The Goth muttered grudgingly. Tori laughed even harder, her sides cramping as she did.

"They ship us, Jade? That's so funny." Tori panted breathlessly as she pretended to wipe a tear from her eye.

"Funny? I thought that was a good thing?" Jade asked as she moved Tori at arms length in order to see her face.

"It is! I just didn't expect that we'd have a fanbase." Tori replied with her eyes filled with mirth. The pale girl leaned forward and captured Tori's lips in a brief kiss.

"I'd ship us too. I mean, we're pretty hot."

Tori slapped her shoulder lightly with a growing smirk on her tan face. "You're so conceited." She laughed.

"I have every right to be."

"I can't argue with that.

"You would've lost anyway."

"I think I could handle you."

"Oh, really?" Jade murmured huskily in Tori's ear, though in the silence of the house it wasn't exactly quiet.

"_Go to bed!_" Holly shouted from upstairs, moments later they both heard her bedroom door close. Blue eyes met brown ones and the two girls burst into laughter as they made their way up the staircase.

Tomorrow morning at five o'clock exactly, Jade was out of the makeup chair and sitting in one of six chairs lined up along a giant poster board with the band's emblem: three X's, the one in the middle capitalized and colored a bright red against the white of the other two and a black background. The other four members of the band swiftly took their seats beside hers in the middle and the camera man began rolling.

The interviewer was a tall, pristine blonde woman that looked to be fairly middle aged. Jade couldn't remember the lady's name for the life of her, but hopefully she wouldn't have to use it. The blonde smiled brightly, the type of smile that was used in commercials to make you think that whatever product they were advertising would grant life-long happiness.

It was huge and fake and Jade hated it already. The sunlight streamed in through the floor to ceiling windows of the dance studio that they were in and cast a flattering glow on the group of teenagers.

"Good morning you guys! Goodness, L.A is gorgeous. How are you all?" She inquired in an overly peppy tone that grated on Jade's nerves. The six of them all nodded and murmured slightly different variations of 'We're good.'

"First off, Jade, welcome to the band! It's become quite obvious what a large following you've picked up recently. I think every one agrees that you mesh with them quite nicely." The blonde grinned in the pale girl's direction.

Jade flashed her signature smirk in response and Lucas made a show of looking her over.

"I don't know… she's kinda weird." He commented, scratching his chin with a concentrated look on his face. The pale girl rolled her eyes and looked over at him.

"This coming from the guy that likes to eat food with gum in his mouth?"

The other four guys laughed and nodded to each other, confirming Jade's accusation. The blonde interviewer chuckled.

"Alright, now you are all attractive, young kids. What are your relationships like?"

Five pairs of eyes turned to Devin first, his bushy eyebrows knitted together in a faux expression of betrayal and staining his pale cheeks pink. He ran one large hand through his long, dark hair.

"My girlfriend, Samara, is pretty amazing. She's gonna kill me for saying this here, but I really do love her."

The interviewer gave the standard expression of awe and smiled.

"Why would she kill you?"

"Because she hates getting mushy, but I like to embarrass her so I do it all the time." He chuckled along with every one else.

"What about the rest of you?" The blonde inquired. The guys all looked at Jade next and she scratched her forehead in an attempt to push down the embarrassment at having the attention on her.

"Well we all have heard about Jade and a girl she was seen with after the concert." The blonde woman spoke to the camera before turning back to the six teens.

"Jade, would you like to elaborate?"

The raven haired girl chuckled and crossed her arms across her chest out of habit even though she could faintly remember one of the guys telling her to act casual and to not act closed off in interviews.

"Her name is Tori and yes, we are dating."

Devin let out a mock squeal and began to wriggle in his seat.

"I knew it!" He imitated what would soon be the many fangirls that would later see the interview with a high pitched shriek.

"Ha ha, very hilarious." Jade smiled in amusement while rolling her eyes. The blonde woman grinned.

"So when did this happen? How did this happen?" She inquired.

Jade's blue eyes roamed the room and she let out a small breath. "I don't know, just a week ago. As to the _how_, well, I kind of just woke up that morning and realized that I had made my decision. I decided that I really want to be with her for as long as she'll have me." Jade concluded with a small smirk adorning her pink lips.

The interviewer smiled in adoration and pretended to wipe a tear from her eye, earning several chuckles around the room.

"Alright, so Beck, what about you? We all know you're the lady's man of the group, or at least you were until Jade got here." She added with a good-natured chuckle and Beck ducked his head with a charming smile.

"No, I uh, I'm not dating anyone." He nodded and nudged Andre.

"The secret player here is Mr. Harris." Beck grinned as Andre punched his shoulder. The darker boy's smile lit up the room and Jade was easily able to tell why this group had gotten so large, so fast. The chemistry between the guys and even between Jade and the rest of them was unmistakable. They fit so well together that it would make no sense to have them any other way.

"Okay, so who is the writer of the six of you?"

Derek took it upon himself to answer the question since he had been fairly silent for the most part.

"We all contribute to the music. Each and every one of us writes and the rest of us just add our own little flavor to make it better. To make it fit." The pale boy smiled, his blue eyes completely contrasting from his brother's brown ones.

"That's very inspirational. Speaking of which, what inspired you all to sing or write or play instruments?" The lady asked.

They started down the line, going with Andre first. "When I was real little, my mom would always play jazz music around the house and then she got into real hip-hop when I was around ten. I thought the beats were cool and I started drumming on the couch with my color pencils." The darker boy chuckled a little. "She got tired of me getting colors all over her couch so she bought me my first drum set."

Next was Jade, who wore a look of contemplation for a brief second before she said, "I listened to a lot of different music when I was younger and convinced my dad to get me lessons with almost every instrument he could. I started writing when I was about twelve and I didn't really pick up singing until a couple years ago."

Lucas raised an eyebrow at Jade for a moment before filling the silence with his own story.  
"My parents pretty much forced me to take piano lessons when I was a kid and I always hated it. It was too tame for me, so I saved up my money to buy a guitar when I was fifteen and I taught myself how to play." The tales went on until they got all the way around the group and eventually the interview came to a close.

As they took the photo shoot afterward, Jade was bombarded by stylists carrying the message to call Tori and tell her to come to the school early so that they could take pictures together. They asked Devin to get in contact with Samara as well and soon enough the two girls walked into the dance studio fresh faced and ready to be made-up.

The first couple photo that Tori and Jade took was one with them Jade sitting on the wooden floor and Tori sitting between her jean-clad legs. Pale arms wrapped around the tiny waist in front of her and Jade rested her chin on top of Tori's head. The cameras flashed so often that Jade began to see a constant red spot in her vision. They finished with a shot of them locked in a sweet kiss, Jade's arms around Tori's waist and the half-Latina's arms around her neck. Jade wasn't sure where their relationship was going with all of the attention brought to them from the XXX fans, but she couldn't have been happier than she was, sharing all of herself with Tori.

* * *

"Helen." The superintendent arrived at eight in the morning, black heels clacking against the linoleum floor and auburn hair pinned up in an intricate bun atop her head. She was the very definition of beautiful with caramel colored skin, high cheekbones, curly hair, and legs that go on for miles. However, the woman was beyond intimidating; so much so that even Helen, as prideful as she was, straightened up a bit in her seat when Olivia entered.

The superintendent's light brown eyes landed on the principal with a serious look that sent her previous student's running. Five years as a high school Psychology teacher until she had been a principal for three years and superintendent for the past eleven months left her immune to sob stories and un-accepting of bullshit. Helen stood from her seat and made her way around the wooden desk separating them.

"Yes, Mrs. Mitchell?"

The silence in the room was only broken up by the steady ticks of the wall clock above the door.

"Are you aware that we have a student in this school that has skipped the registry process? How could you possibly find it acceptable to let in random teenagers who have never auditioned?" Olivia Mitchell spoke in a clipped tone, eyes hardened.

Helen took an unsteady breath and clasped her hands together in front of her for a second before turning her palms up with a pleading expression.

"Miss West is the daughter of Jett Johansson-"

"_Step_ daughter and if you are so sure that her talent is guaranteed, then there should be no problem holding an audition for her. If she does not pass, she may not stay. Is that understood?" Mrs. Mitchell responded briskly, her expression leaving no room for argument though Helen felt the need to interject anyway.

"Mrs. Mitchell, auditions take time and money that we don't have-"

"It is one audition and you will have it by the end of this week, are we _clear_." Mrs. Mitchell demanded in a voice stern enough to cause Helen to drop her gaze.

"Yes ma'am."

With that conformation, Olivia Mitchell gave a charming smile and turned on her heel to open the door.

"Excellent. Have a nice day." She added as she exited the room with all the personality of a model on the runway. Helen walked back around to her desk and sat back down on her office chair heavily. She sighed and rubbed her forehead before turning on the intercom to call Jade down to the main office.

* * *

**A/N: **I honestly don't have an acceptable excuse for why it took so long to write this chapter, but school and laziness just don't mix well for me lol. I've also been working on a one-shot that I may or may not turn into a three-parter or something. Thanks for sticking with me though, you guys' support means the world.


End file.
